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SAN    SALVADOR.     i6mo,  51.25. 

TWO    CORONETS.     A  Novel.     12010,  $1.50; 
paper,  50  cents. 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  &  CO. 
Boston  and  New  York. 


SAN    SALVADOR 


BY 


MARY   AGNES   TINCKER 

AUTHOR   OF    "  SIGNOR   MONALDINl's    NIECE,"    "  TWO   CORONETS,"   ETC. 


Unless  tJte  Lord  build  the  house., 
they  labor  m  vain  that  build  it : 
tinless  the  Lord  keep  the  city,  Jtc 
watcheth   in  vaitt  that  keepeth   it 


BOSTON   AND    NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

1892 


Copyright,  1892, 
By  MARY  AGNES  TINCKER. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge^  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  aud  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


PROLOGUE. 

Scene  I. 

The  family  in  Palazzo  Loredan,  in  the  Grand 
Canal,  Venice,  liad  finished  their  midday  break- 
fast, and  coffee  was  brought  in. 

There  was  the  Marchesa  Loredan,  a  widow,  her 
widowed  only  daughter  with  a  little  son  and  his 
tutor,  and  Don  Claudio  Loredan,  the  Marchesa's 
second  son.  Her  eldest  son  was  married ;  and  the 
youngest,  Don  Enrico,  was  a  monsignore,  and 
coadjutor  of  an  old  canon  whom  he  was  impa- 
tiently waiting  to  succeed. 

The  breakfast  had  not  been  a  cheerful  one.  Don 
Claudio,  usually  the  life  of  the  family  and  its  har- 
monizing element,  had  been  silent  and  preoccu- 
pied; and  Madama  Loredan 's  black  brows  had  two 
deep  lines  between  them,  —  sure  signs  of  a  storm. 

She  rose  as  the  coffee  was  bought  in. 

"Carry  a  tete-a-tete  down  to  the  arbor,"  she 
said  to  the  servant;  and  to  her  son,  "I  wish  to 
speak  to  you,  Claudio." 

The  tutor  rose  respectfully,  making  sly  but  in- 
tense signals  to  his  pupil  to  do  the  same.  But 
the  boy,  occupied  in  counting  the  cloves  of  a  man- 
darin orange,  did  not  choose  to  see  them. 

A  long  window  of  the  dining-room  opened  on  a 


2  PROLOGUE. 

balcony,  and  from  the  balcony  a  stair  descended  to 
the  garden.  This  garden,  a  square  the  width  of 
the  house,  would  soon  be  a  mass  of  bloom;  but 
spring  had  hardly  come  as  yet.  The  little  arbor 
in  the  centre  was  covered  with  rosebuds,  and  the 
oranofe-trees  were  in  blossom.  There  was  a  table 
in  the  arbor,  with  a  chair  at  each  side. 

Madama  literally  swept  across  the  dining-room ; 
for  she  did  not  lift  a  fold  of  the  trailing  robe  of 
glossy  white  linen  bordered  with  black  velvet  that 
followed  her  imperious  steps. 

Don  Claudio  was  familiar  with  the  several  in- 
dications of  his  mother's  moods,  and  he  followed 
in  silence,  carefully  avoiding  the  glistening  wake 
of  her  progress.  When  she  had  seated  herself  in 
the  arbor,  he  took  the  chair  opposite  her,  half 
filled  a  little  rose-colored  cup  with  coffee,  dropjjed 
a  single  cube  of  sugar  into  it,  stirred  it  with  a  tiny 
spoon  that  had  the  Loredan  shield  at  the  end  of  its 
slender  twisted  stem,  and  gravely  set  the  cup  be- 
fore her. 

He  had  not  once  raised  his  eyes  to  her  face. 

She  watched  him  with  a  scrutinizing  gaze.  He 
was  evidently  expecting  a  reprimand ;  yet  there  was 
neither  anger  nor  confusion  in  his  handsome  face. 
It  had  not  lost  its  preoccupied  and  even  sorrowful 
expression.  She  sipped  her  coffee  in  silence,  and 
waited  till  he  had  drunk  his. 

"You  were  at  Ca'  Mora  last  evening  and  this 
morning,"  she  said  abruptly,  when  he  set  his  cup 
down. 


PROLOGUE.  3 

"My  master  is  dying!  "  he  responded  quietly. 

Madama  was  for  a  moment  disconcerted.  The 
old  professor  with  whom  her  son  had  for  two  years 
been  studying  oriental  languages  was  a  man  of 
note  among  the  learned.  He  had  exercised  a  ben- 
eficial influence  over  the  mind  of  Don  Claudio; 
and  for  a  while  she  had  been  glad  that  an  enthu- 
siasm for  study  should  counteract  the  natural  down- 
ward tendency  of  a  life  full  of  worldly  prosperity 
and  its  attendant  temptations.  Only  of  late  had 
she  become  aware  of  any  danger  in  this  intimacy. 

"Dying!"  she  echoed.  "I  did  not  know  that 
he  was  ill."  She  hesitated  a  moment,  then  bitter- 
ness prevailed. 

"Of  course  his  granddaughter  has  need  of  con- 
solation," she  added  with  a  sneer. 

"I  have  not  seen  her  to-day,"  Don  Claudio  said, 
controlling  himself.  Then,  with  a  sudden  out- 
burst, "I  would  gladly  console  her!  "  he  exclaimed, 
and  looked  at  his  mother  defiantly. 

His  defiance  of  her  was  like  the  flash  of  a  wax 
taper  on  steel.  Madama  leaned  forward  and  raised 
a  warning  finger. 

"You  will  leave  her  to  be  consoled  by  her 
equals,"  she  said.  "And  when  her  grandfather  is 
dead,  you  will  see  her  no  more.  Woe  to  her  if 
you  disobey  me !  " 

The  young  man  shrugged  his  shoulders  to  hide  a 
tremor. 

"Woe  to  her!  "  repeated  his  mother,  marking 
the  tremor. 


4  PROLOGUE. 

Don  Claudio  remained  silent. 

"Has  she  succeeded  in  compromising  you?" 
Madama  asked. 

The  quick  blood  covered  her  son's  face. 

"You  might,  at  least,  refrain  from  slandering 
her  !  "  he  exclaimed.  Then  his  voice  became  sup- 
plicating. "Mamma,  all  that  Tacita  Mora  lacks 
is  rank.  She  has  a  fair  portion ;  and  she  has  been 
delicately  reared  and  guarded.  Her  manners  are 
exquisite.  And  there  can  be  no  undesirable  con- 
nection, for  she  will  be  quite  alone  in  the  world." 

His  mother  made  an  impatient  gesture,  and  was 
about  to  speak ;  but  he  held  his  hands  out  to  her. 

"Mamma,  I  love  her  so!  "  he  exclaimed.  "You 
do  not  know  her.  She  is  not  one  of  those  girls  who 
give  a  man  opportunities,  and  are  always  on  the 
lookout  for  a  lover.  We  have  never  spoken  a  word 
of  love.  We  have  only  looked  at  each  other.  But 
I  cannot  lose  her !  " 

He  threw  himself  on  his  knees  at  his  mother's 
side,  and  burst  into  tears. 

She  drew  his  head  to  her  shoulder,  and  kissed 
him. 

"You  have  only  looked  at  each  other! "  she  re- 
peated. "My  poor  boy!  As  if  that  were  not 
enough  !  Claudio,  we  all  have  to  go  through  with 
it,  as  with  teething.  It  is  a  madness.  The  only 
safe  way  is  to  follow  the  counsel  of  those  who  have 
had  experience.  It  is  only  the  pang  of  a  day. 
This  kind  of  passion  does  not  endure;  but  order 
does.     This  is  a  passing  fever  of  the  fancy  and  the 


PROLOGUE.  5 

blood.  Be  patient  a  little  while,  and  it  will  cure 
itself.  Do  not  allow  it  to  compromise  your  future. 
You  will  be  glad  of  having  listened  to  me  when 
your  love  shall  have  died  out." 

"It  will  never  die  !  "  he  sobbed. 

"It  will  die!"  she  said.  "And  now,  listen  to 
me.  I  have  told  the  Sangredo  that  you  are  going 
to  visit  them  this  afternoon.  It  is  a  week  since 
Bianca  came  home  from  school.  You  should  have 
gone  sooner.  Go,  and  make  yourself  agreeable. 
If  you  do  so,  I  will  consent  to  your  going  once 
more  to  see  Professor  Mora,  and  I  will  myself  go 
to  inquire  for  him." 

The  young  man  rose,  and  stood  hesitating  and 
frowning. 

"Go,  my  dear!  "his  mother  urged.  "It  is  only 
a  civility,  and  commits  you  to  nothing." 

He  went  slowly  away,  knowing  well  that  further 
appeal  was  useless.  His  mother  followed  him  after 
a  moment. 

"My  gondola!"  she  said  to  a  servant  who  was 
taking  off  the  tablecloth,  and  went  on  to  an  adjoin- 
ing boudoir  where  her  daughter  sat. 

"Boys  are  such  a  trial !  "  she  said  with  an  impa- 
tient  sigh,  and  dropped  into  a  sofa.  "Alfonso  has, 
happily,  reached  the  age  of  reason.  Enrico  is 
under  good  guardianship,  or  I  should  tremble  for 
his  future,  he  is  so  impatient.  It  is  true,  Monsig- 
nor  Scalchi  does  live  longer  than  we  thought  he 
would ;  but,  as  I  say  to  Enrico,  can  I  kill  Monsig- 
nor  Scalchi  in  order  that  you  may  be  made  a  canon 


6  PROLOGUE. 

at  once?  Wait.  He  cannot  live  long.  Enrico 
declares  that  he  will  never  die.  And  now  Claudio, 
with  his  folly!" 

*'AVhat  will  he  do?"  the  daughter  asked. 

"He  will  do  as  I  command  him!  "  the  Marchesa 
answered  sharply.  ''I  only  wish,  Isabella,  that 
you  would  be  half  as  resolute  with  your  son.  Pep- 
pino  may  go  without  his  dessert  this  evening.  It 
may  make  him  remember  to  rise  the  next  time  that 
the  mistress  of  the  house  leaves  the  table." 


Scene  II. 

In  a  boarding-house,  on  the  Riva  degli  Schia- 
voni,  a  number  of  tourists,  among  them  some  ar- 
tists, are  seated  at  their  one  o'clock  dinner. 

Says  a  lady,  ''They  say  that  the  old  Greek,  or 
Arabic,  or  Turkish,  or  Hindu,  or  Boston  Profes- 
sor whom  we  met  at  the  Lido  last  month  —  you 
remember  him,  Mr.  James  ?  —  well  —  where  did  I 
begin?     I  've  lost  my  nominative  case." 

2(Z  Lady.  They  say  that  he  is  dying,  poor  old 
man !  My  gondolier  told  me  this  morning  that  Pro- 
fessor Mora  has  visited  every  part  of  the  globe, 
and  knows  a  thousand  languages.  He  seemed 
even  to  doubt  if  the  professor  might  not  have  been 
to  the  moon.  The  gondolier  evidently  looks  upon 
him  with  wonderment.  And  as  for  the  professor's 
granddaughter,  she  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  the 
earth. 

1st  Lady,     Mr.  James  can  tell  you  all  about 


PROLOGUE.  7 

that.  I  think  he  did  succeed  in  getting  a  sketch 
of  the  girl,  if  not  of  her  grandfather.  I  don't 
know  where  he  keeps  it,  unless  it  is  worn  next  his 
heart.  It  is  not  among  the  sketches  that  he  shows 
to  people.  In  fact,  everything  about  this  family 
in  mysterious  and  uncommon. 

A  gentleman.  What  is  it,  Mr.  James?  The 
story  promises  to  be  interesting. 

Mr.  James  (sotto  voce).  Damn  the  women  ! 
(^Aloud.)  This  old  professor,  I  am  told,  came 
here  fifteen  years  ago,  some  say,  from  the  East. 
Shortly  after,  his  widowed  daughter  with  her  little 
girl  followed  him.  I  am  not  aware  that  they  be- 
haved in  a  mysterious  manner,  unless  it  is  a  mys- 
tery that  people  should  be  able  to  live  quietly  and 
innocently,  and  mind  their  own  business;  all  which 
the  Mora  certainly  achieved.  They  were  not  rich, 
but  to  the  poor  and  unfortunate  they  were  angels 
of  mercy. 

Is^  Lady  {striking  hi).  Everybody  didn't 
think  so. 

Mr.  James.  Everybody  doesn't  think  that 
God  is  good.  Of  course  there  were  servants'  sto- 
ries and  gossips'  stories,  and  those  who  wished  to 
believe  them  did  believe  them. 

Gentleman.     Will  the  girl  be  left  alone  ? 

\st  Lady.  Do  not  cherish  any  hopes,  sir.  The 
mother  is  dead;  but  the  young  lady  has  an  ad- 
mirer. He  is  a  fine  young  man  with  a  palace  and 
an  ancestry,  and  the  most  beautiful  eyes  in  the 
world.  She  goes  out  with  him  in  his  gondola  by 
moonlight.     It  is  so  romantic! 


8  PROLOGUE. 

Mr.  Jamef<.  Did  you  ever  see  them  out  together 
by  moonlight,  or  at  any  other  hour? 

\st  Lady.     Others  have. 

3Ir.  James.     What  others?     Name  one! 

l^i^  Lady.     Really,  sir!   {leaves  the  table'). 

31r.  James.  The  Signorina  Mora  will  not  be 
left  alone.  There  is  a  respectable  woman  with 
her  — 

2d  Lady.     A  nurse ! 

Mr.  James.  —  a  very  respectable  woman  with 
her  who  has  been  here  since  her  mother  died,  two 
years  ago.  She  is  an  elderly  woman  of  very  pleas- 
ant api^earance  and  manners.  Some  one  has  said 
that  she  belono-s  to  some  charitable  order  that 
nurses  the  sick. 

2d  Lady  {in  a  stage  voice).     "Juliet !     Where  's 
the  girl?     What,  Juliet!" 
Gentleman.     Ahem! 


Scene  III. 

In  the  church  of  Saint  X.  the  half  of  the  Chap- 
ter on  duty  that  week  had  just  come  out  of  choir, 
and  were  taking  off  their  vestments  and  laying 
them  away,  each  in  his  proper  drawer  in  the  wall 
of  the  sacristy.  The  sound  of  alternate  sing- 
ing and  praying  yet  came  from  the  church.  A  No- 
vena  was  going  on;  and  Monsignor  Scalchi,  the 
old  canonico  for  whose  place  Monsignor  Loredan 
waited  so  impatiently,  officiated. 

Some  of  the  clergy  hastened  away,  others  lin- 


PROLOGUE.  9 

gered,  chatting  together.  One  stood  watching  the 
gloomy  way  in  which  Monsignor  Loredan  flicked  a 
speck  of  dust  from  his  broad -brimmed  hat. 

"Well?"  said  the  young  man,  aware  of  the  oth- 
er's gaze,  but  without  looking  at  him. 

"I  was  wondering  how  Monsignor  Scalchi  is," 
his  friend  said. 

"When  he  sees  me,  he  coughs,"  said  the  coad- 
jutor. 

At  that  moment  the  person  of  whom  they  spoke 
entered  the  sacristy,  with  a  priest  at  either  hand. 
A  rustling  cope  of  cloth  of  gold  covered  his  whole 
person,  his  eyes  were  downcast,  his  hands  folded 
palm  to  palm,  and  he  murmured  prayers  as  he 
came. 

The  young  men  stood  respectfully  aside  as  he 
passed,  his  garments  smelling  of  incense,  and  went 
to  disrobe  at  the  other  end  of  the  sacristy. 

"Don't  lose  courage,  Don  Enrico!  "  said  one  of 
the  group.  "He  looks  feeble.  He  can  scarcely 
lift  his  feet  from  the  floor." 

"Poll!"  exclaimed  Don  Enrico.  "He  is  as 
strong  as  I  am.  He  buys  his  shoes  too  long,  so 
that  they  may  drag  at  the  heels  and  make  him 
seem  weak  in  the  legs." 

He  yawned,  saluted  with  a  graceful  wave  of  the 
hand,  and  sauntered  out  into  the  silent  piazza. 

"Don  Enrico  is  out  of  temper  about  his  brother's 
affairs,  as  well  as  his  own,"  one  of  his  friends  said 
when  he  was  out  of  hearing.  "They  say  that 
Claudio  is  in  love  with  Tacita  Mora,  and  is  mak- 


10  PROLOGUE. 

insr  a  fool  of  himself.  If  he  should  offend  the 
Sangredo,  Don  Enrico  will  lose  the  cardinal's 
patronage.  Professor  Mora  was  as  blind  as  a  bat. 
He  thought  that  Tacita  was  a  child,  and  that  Don 
Claudio  was  enamored  of  the  Chinese  language." 

''But  the  nurse  never  leaves  the  girl,"  some  one 
said. 

"Oh!  the  nurse  is  dark  I  "  said  one  of  the  sacris- 
tans. 

Yes ;  they  all  agreed  that  the  nurse  was  dark. 

One  after  another  they  dropped  away,  till  only 
Monsignor  Scalehi  was  left  kneeling  at  a  ^;r/e-c7/ei/, 
and  an  under-sacristan  going  about  his  work,  filling 
a  silver  lamp  for  the  shrine  of  Saint  X.,  shaving 
down  the  lower  ends  of  great  yellow  wax  torches  to 
set  in  triple-footed  iron  stands  for  a  funeral,  count- 
ing out  wafers  for  the  altar.  There  was  silence 
save  for  a  light  lapse  of  w^ater  against  the  steps 
outside;  there  was  a  sleej^y  yellow  sunshine  on 
the  marble  floor,  and  a  smell  of  incense  in  the  soft 
air. 

As  Monsignor  Scalehi  rose  from  his  knees,  a 
second  under-sacristan  entered. 

"  Here  are  the  books  from  San  Lazzaro,  Monsig- 
nore,"  he  said.  "But  the  translations  from  the 
Turkish  are  not  yet  ready.  The  illness  of  Profes- 
sor Mora  delayed  them.  He  was  to  have  looked 
them  over." 

"Did  you  learn  how  the  professor  is?  "  asked  the 
prelate,  glancing  over  the  books  given  him. 

"I  went  to  ask,  Monsignore.     Gian  says  that  he 


PROLOGUE.  11 

is  failina:  fast.  The  Marchesa  Loredan  has  been 
to  see  hhn." 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  Monsignor  Scalchi,  looking 
up  from  the  volume  in  his  hand. 

"Yes;  and  Gian  says  that  the  nurse  watches 
over  everything." 

"The  nurse  seems  to  be  a  dark  one,"  monsig- 
nore  remarked. 

"Yes,"  said  the  sacristan,  "the  nurse  is  dark." 


Scene  IV. 

The  mistress  of  Palazzo  Sangredo  sat  in  one  of 
her  stateliest  salons  talking  with  her  cousin,  the 
Countess  Bembo.  At  some  distance  from  them, 
half  enveloped  in  the  drapery  of  a  great  window, 
Bianca  Sangredo  peeped  out  into  the  Canal. 

"I  saw  him  myself  !  "  said  the  countess  in  a  vehe- 
ment whisper.  "I  saw  him  go  into  the  house,  arid 
I  saw  him  come  out.  And  he  was  there  again  this 
morning,  and  stopped  half  an  hour.  You  ought  to 
have  an  explanation  with  the  marchesa.  Every- 
body knows  that  the  families  wish  for  a  marriage 
between  him  and  Bianca.  If  Sangredo  would  stay 
at  home  and  attend  to  his  duties,  Don  Claudio 
would  not  dare  to  behave  so.  But  Sangredo  never 
is  at  home." 

"Oh,  yes,  he  is!"  said  Sangredo's  wife  lan- 
guidly. "He  is  always  at  home  in  Paris.  But 
the  marchesa  declares  that  Claudio  goes  to  Ca' 
Mora  to  study,  and  that  he  already  speaks  Arabic 


12  PROLOGUE. 

like  a  sheik.  Professor  Mora  is  famous.  Papa- 
dopoli  says  that  since  Mezzofanti  no  one  else  has 
known  so  many  lanf^uages." 

"Yes,"  said  her  cousin  sharply.  "And  the  pro- 
fessor's granddaughter  will  teach  him  to  conjugate 
amore  in  every  one  of  them." 

"Mamma,"  said  Bianca  f rom  the  window,  "Don 
Claudio's  gondola  is  at  the  step." 

"Come  and  sit  by  me,  child!  "  her  mother  said 
hastily. 

When  their  visitor  entered  the  salon,  the  two 
elder  ladies  received  him  with  the  utmost  cordiality. 
Bianca  only  bent  her  head,  and  did  not  leave  her 
mother's  side;  but  her  childlike  dimpling  smile 
was  full  of  kindness.  She  had  a  charming  snow- 
drop stillness  and  modesty. 

"I  have  already  seen  you  to-day,  Don  Claudio," 
said  the  Countess  Bembo.  "  I  passed  you  near  the 
Giudecca ;  and  you  did  not  look  at  me,  though  our 
gondolas  almost  touched." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon  I  "  he  said  seriously.  "  I  had 
been,  or  was  going,  to  the  house  of  Professor  Mora, 
and  I  saw  no  one.  He  lies  at  the  point  of  death. 
It  is  a  great  grief  to  me." 

The  ladies  began  to  question  and  sympathize. 
After  all,  things  might  not  be  so  bad  as  they  had 
feared. 

"He  will  be  a  loss  to  the  world,  as  well  as  to  his 
friends,"  Don  Claudio  said.  "His  knowledge  of 
languages  is  something  wonderful.  Besides  that, 
he  is  one  of  the  best  of  men.     His  mode  of  teach- 


PROLOGUE.  13 

ing  caught  the  attention  at  once.  'Sometimes,' 
he  once  said  to  me,  'you  may  see  protruding  from 
the  earth  an  ugly  end  of  dry  stick.  Pull  it,  and 
you  find  a  long  root  attached.  Follow  the  root, 
and  it  may  lead  you  to  a  beautiful  plant  laden  with 
blossoms.  And  so  a  seemingly  dry  and  insio-nifi- 
cant  fact  may  prove  the  key  to  a  treasure  of  hid- 
den knowledge.'  That  was  his  way  of  teaching. 
However  dry  the  proposition  with  which  he  began 
a  discourse,  it  was  sure  to  lead  to  something  inter- 
esting." 

"You  must  feel  very  sad!  "  the  young  girl  said 
compassionately. 

"It  is  sad,"  he  answered,  and  let  his  eyes  dwell 
on  her  fair,  innocent  face.  Then,  the  entrance  of 
other  visitors  creating  a  little  stir,  he  bent  toward 
her  and  murmured  "Thanks  !  " 


SAN  SALVADOR. 


CHAPTER  I. 

It  was  a  still  night,  and  all  eastward -looking 
Venice,  above  a  certain  height,  was  enameled  as 
with  ivory  by  the  light  of  a  moon  but  little  past  its 
full.  Below,  flickering  reflections  from  the  water 
danced  on  the  dark  walls.  The  bending  lines  of 
street  lamps  showed  in  dull  golden  blotches  in  that 
radiant  air.  The  same  golden  spots  were  visible 
on  gun-boat  or  steamship,  and  on  a  gondola 
moored  at  the  steps  of  Casa  Mora. 

Above  this  waiting  gondola  a  window  stood  wide 
open  to  the  night.  It  seemed  to  be  the  only  open 
window  in  Venice.  All  the  others  had  their  iron 
shutters  closed. 

Seen  from  without,  this  open  window  was  as 
dark  as  the  mouth  of  a  cave.  But  inside,  so  pene- 
trating an  effulgence  filled  the  room,  one  might 
have  read  the  titles  of  the  books  in  cases  that  lined 
all  the  walls. 

The  wide-open,  curtainless  window  admitted  a 
square  of  moonlight  so  splendid  as  to  seem  tangi- 
ble; and  in  the  midst  of  it,  on  a  pallet,  lay  the  old 


16  SAN  SALVADOR. 

professor,  his  face,  hair,  and  beard  ahnost  as  white 
as  the  i^illow  they  rested  on.  A  slender  girl  knelt 
at  his  right  hand,  her  head  bowed  down.  One 
could  see  that  her  thick  knot  of  hair  was  floss-fine 
and  gold-tinted,  and  her  neck  white  and  smooth. 
At  the  opposite  side  of  the  couch  a  young  man  was 
seated,  bending  toward  it.  In  an  arm-chair  near 
the  foot,  with  her  back  to  the  light,  sat  a  woman. 
Her  cheek  resting  on  her  hand,  she  gazed  intently 
at  the  dying  man. 

After  a  prolonged  silence  he  stirred,  and 
stretched  a  thin  hand  to  touch  the  girl's  head. 

"Go  and  rest  awhile,  my  Tacita!  "  he  said.  "I 
will  recall  thee.      Go,  Elena.     I  will  recall  thee." 

The  two  rose  at  once  and  went  out  of  the  room, 
hand  in  hand,  closing  the  door. 

"I  charge  thee  to  let  the  girl  alone!  "  Professor 
Mora  exclaimed  the  moment  they  were  gone. 

The  young  man  started. 

"This  is  no  time  for  idle  compliments,",  the 
other  pursued  with  a  certain  vehemence.  "I  know 
that  thou  hast  taken  a  fancy  to  Tacita  because  she 
is  beautiful  and  good.  She  is  of  a  tender  nature, 
and  may  have  some  leaning  toward  thee.  I  should 
have  been  a  more  jealous  guardian  of  both." 

"I  know  that  my  mother  has  been  here  to-day," 
Don  Claudio  said  bitterly. 

"Thy  mother  is  a  worldly  woman,"  the  old  man 
replied.  "But  in  this  she  is  right.  Marry  the 
girl  they  have  chosen  for  thee.  It  is  not  in  thy 
nature,  boy,   to  be  immovable  and  persistent  in 


SAN  SALVADOR.  IT 

rebellion  even  against  manifest  injustice.  Thy 
protest  would  be  the  passion  of  a  moment.  They 
would  wear  out  thy  courage  and  endurance.  But 
even  with  their  consent,  Tacita  is  not  for  thee.  I 
forbid  it !  Dost  thou  hear,  Don  Claudio  Loredan  ? 
I  forbid  it!  " 

"You  seemed  to  like  me  I  "  Don  Claudio  ex- 
claimed reproachfully. 

The  professor  moved  his  hand  toward  the 
speaker.  "I  love  thee,  Claudio.  But  that  makes 
no  difference.  He  who  would  have  Tacita  must 
live  even  as  I  have,  without  luxury  or  splendor, 
striving  to  learn  what  human  life  means,  and  fol- 
lowing the  best  law  that  his  soul  knows." 

The  young  man  sighed.  He  had  no  such  j^lan  of 
life. 

"It  will  be  a  moment's  pain,"  the  other  went  on. 
"But  thy  honor  and  her  peace  are  at  stake.  I 
charge  thee  "  —  he  half  rose  in  his  earnestness  —  "I 
charge  thee  to  let  the  girl  alone!  Remember  that 
one  day  thou  wilt  have  to  lie  as  I  lie  here  now, 
all  earthly  passion  burned  to  ashes,  and  only  the 
record  of  thy  conscience  to  support,  or  cast  thee 
down." 

"Be  tranquil!"  said  Don  Claudio  faintly,  and 
bowed  his  face  into  his  hands.      "I  will  obey." 

The  old  man  sank  back  upon  his  pillow  with  a 
murmured  word  of  blessing,  and  looked  out  at  the 
violet  sky.  For  a  while  he  remained  silent.  Then 
he  spoke  again,  as  if  soliloquizing. 

"The    unfathomable    universe  !      The    baffling 


18  SAN  SALVADOR. 

problem!  Only  the  shades  of  night  and  of  life 
reveal  something  of  the  mystery  to  iis.  For  eighty 
years  I  have  studied  life  from  every  side.  I  was 
hungTy  to  know.  And  the  more  I  learned  of  any 
subject  the  more  clearly  I  perceived  the  vastness 
of  my  own  ignorance.  ^  I  tried  in  vain  to  grasp  the 
plan  of  it  all.  I  built  up  theories,  fitting  into  them 
the  facts  I  knew.  Sometimes  the  mosaic  grew  to 
show  a  pattern;  and  then,  just  as  I  began  to  re- 
joice, all  became  confusion  again.  1  was  Tanta- 
lus. Again  and  again  the  universe  held  its  solu- 
tion before  my  soul.  Only  a  line  more,  and  it  was 
mine!     Yet  it  was  forever  snatched  away.'* 

He  was  silent  a  little  while;  then  resumed:  "In 
one  of  those  moments  of  disappointment  I  recol- 
lected a  text  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  taught  me  in 
my  childhood :  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  be- 
ginning  cf  wisdom.  When  I  learned  it,  two  paths 
of  life  were  opening  out  before  my  mind.  One 
was  like  a  hidden  rivulet,  flowing  ever  in  lowly 
places,  seeking  ever  the  lowest  place,  refreshing, 
beneficent.  The  other  was  like  a  mountain  j^ath, 
and  a  star  shone  over  it.  I  chose  the  mountain 
path.  It  was  often  steep  and  hard,  and  the  star 
recedes  as  you  climb.  But  the  air  on  those  heights 
is  sometimes  an  elixir.     We  had  a  song  at  home :  — 

'  Sweet  is  the  path  that  leads  to  what  we  love.* 

How  many  a  time  I  sang  it  to  keep  my  courage  up ! 

"  In  that  moment  of  recollection  I  asked  myself 

if  I  might  not  have  more  surely  attained  to  what  1 


SAN  SALVADOR.  19 

sought  by  taking  the  lowlier  way,  if  the  supernat- 
ural might  not  have  aided  material  science,  as  im- 
agination aids  in  the  mathematics.  ^  What  means 
the  story  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  and  the  tree  of 
life  ?  iMany  of  those  old  tales  contain  a  golden  les- 
son. We  do  not  study  the  past  enough ;  and  there- 
fore human  life  becomes  a  series  of  beginnings 
without  visible  results.  There  are  a  few  centuries 
of  progress,  something  is  learned,  something 
gained,  a  clearer  light  seems  to  announce  tlie 
dawn  of  some  great  day,  and  men  begin  to  extol 
themselves;  and  then  a  shadowy  hand  sweejis  the 
board  clean,  and  the  boasters  disappear,  they  and 
their  achievements.  Perhaps  out  of  each  fading 
cycle  God  gathers  up  a  few  from  destruction. 
Many  are  called.,  hut  few  chosen.,  said  the  King. 
For  the  others  the  story  of  Sisyj^hus  was  told." 

Again  there  was  a  pause ;  and  again  he  spoke : 

"I  was  tossed  hither  and  thither.  I  had  such 
failures  that  life  seemed  to  me  a  mockery,  and 
such  successes  that  I  would  fain  have  lived  a  thou- 
sand years.  Of  one  thing  in  it  all  I  am  glad:  I 
never  complained  of  God  in  failure,  nor  glorified 
myself  in  success.     I  give  thanks  for  that!  " 

He  closed  his  eyes  and  seemed  to  pray. 

After  a  moment  he  spoke  again. 

"I  have  known  one  perfect  thing  on  earth,"  he 
said,  and  clasped  his  hands.  "I  have  found  in 
life  one  beauty  that  grows  on  the  soul  forever. 
Oiie  being  in  touching  the  earth  has  consecrated  it. 
There  is  no  flaw  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 


20  SAN  SALVADOR. 

The  pause  that  followed  was  so  long  that  Don 
Claudio  bent  to  touch  the  cold  hands. 

The  dying  man  roused  himself. 

"Farewell,  my  beloved  pupil !  "  he  said.  "God 
be  with  thee  !  Go  in  peace  !  And  tell  them  to 
come  to  me." 

The  young  man  knelt,  and  weeping,  pressed  his 
lips  to  the  cold  hand  that  could  not  lift  itself. 

"Farewell !  God  be  wdth  you  !  "  he  echoed  in  a 
stifled  voice ;  and  rose  and  w^ent  out  of  the  room. 

A  light  shone  through  the  open  door  of  an  ad- 
joining chamber,  and  Tacita  and  the  nurse  could 
bo  seen  each  lying  on  a  sofa  inside.  They  started 
up  at  the  sound  of  Don  Claudio 's  step. 

"He  wants  you,"  the  young  man  said,  and 
pressed  the  hand  of  each  as  they  passed  by  him, 
then  went  down  to  his  gondola.  A  moment  later 
they  heard  the  ripple  of  his  passage  across  the 
lagoon. 

Tacita  knelt  beside  her  grandfather  and  took  his 
hand  in  hers.  He  drew  her,  and  she  put  her  face 
close  to  his. 

"Dost  thou  remember  all,  my  child?  "  he  whis- 
pered. 

"I  remember  all  !  "  she  whispered  back. 

"Thou  wilt  be  strong  and  faithful?  "he  asked 
in  the  same  tone. 

"I  will  be  strong  and  faithful,"  she  answered. 

He  said  no  more.  His  breath  fluttered  on  her 
cheek,  and  seemed  to  stop. 

"Elena! "  she  cried. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  21 

After  bending  for  a  moment  over  the  bed,  the 
nurse  had  gone  to  the  window,  and  stepped  out  into 
the  balcony.  She  returned  at  that  frightened  call, 
and  knelt  by  the  bed. 

In  the  silence  that  followed,  a  gondola  slipped 
under  the  balcony ;  and  presently  there  rose  from  it 
a  singing  voice,  low  toned,  but  impassioned  and 
distinct.     It  sang :  — 

"  San  Salvador,  San  Salvador, 
We  cry  to  tliee  ! 
Danger  is  in  our  path, 
The  enemy,  in  wrath, 
Lurks  to  delude  our  souls  from  finding  thee  I 
We  cry  to  thee  !  We  cry  to  thee  ! 
San  Salvador, 
We  cry  to  thee  !  ' ' 

The  dying  man,  half  sunk  into  a  lethargy, 
started  awake. 

"The  mountains  !"he  exclaimed,  looking  eagerly 
out  at  the  dark  outline  of  housetops  against  the 
eastern  sky.      "The  mountains  and  the  bells  !" 

He  panted,  listened,  sighed  at  the  silence,  and 
sank  back  again. 

The  singer  recommenced  more  softly;  but  every 
word  was  so  distinctly  uttered  that  it  seemed  to  be 
spoken  in  the  chamber :  — 

"  San  Salvador,  San  Salvador, 
We  turn  to  thee  ! 
All  mercy  as  thou  art. 
Forgive  the  erring  heart 
That  wandered  far,  but,  weeping,  homeward  flies. 
We  turn  to  thee  !  We  turn  to  thee ! 
San  Salvador, 
We  turn  to  thee. " 


22  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"The  mountains!"  murmured  the  dying  man. 
"Ihe  curtain  and  the  Throne  !" 
Again  the  voice  sang :  — 

"San  Salvador,  San  Salvadoi, 
We  live  in  thee ! 
'T  is  love  that  holds  the  threads  of  fate ; 
Death  's  but  the  opening  of  a  gate, 
The  parting  of  a  mist  that  hides  the  skies. 
We  live  in  thee  !  We  live  in  thee ! 
San  Salvador, 
We  live  in  thee !  " 

There  was  one  more  sigh  from  the  pillow.     A 
whisper  came:  "We  live  in  Thee  !" 

"My  dear,"  said  the  nurse,  laying  her  hand 
softly  on  Tacita's  bowed  head,  "Professor  Mora  is 
no  longer  an  infirm  old  man." 


CHAPTER    II. 

Professor  Mora  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  of 
San  Michele,  with  the  rites  of  the  Roman  Church, 
though  he  had  not  received  the  last  sacraments. 
That  he  had  not,  was  supposed  to  have  been  the 
fault  of  the  nurse.  It  was  known,  however,  that 
he  had  made  his  Easter  Communion;  and  those 
who  had  seen  him  before  the  altar  at  San  Giorgio 
on  that  occasion  spoke  of  his  conduct  as  very  edi- 
fying. 

Many  of  them  would  doubtless  have  been  puz- 
zled, and  even  scandalized,  could  they  have  read 
his  mind.  That  he  was,  in  soul,  prostrate  at  the 
feet  of  his  Creator,  there  could  be  no  doubt.  He 
had  often,  of  late  years,  spent  an  hour  in  some 
church,  kneeling,  or  sitting  in  deep  thought.  He 
found  it  easier  to  recollect  himself  in  the  quiet  of 
such  a  place,  surrounded  by  religious  images. 

On  this  last  Easter  he  had  questioned :  — 

"Shall  I  confess  my  sins  to  a  priest?  Why 
not?  It  can  do  me  no  harm,  and  it  may  do  me 
good.  I  wiU  declare  what  I  know  of  my  own 
wrong-doing,  addressing  God  in  the  hearing  of  this 
man.  He  uses  many  instruments.  Perhaps  the 
forgiveness  of  God  may  be  spoken  to  me  by  the 
lips  of  this  man.      Shall  I  tell  this  man  that  I  do 


24  '  SAN  SALVADOR. 

not  know  whether  he  has  any  authority,  or  not? 
No.  I  am  doing  the  best  that  I  can;  and  his 
claim  that  he  has  authority  will  have  no  weight 
with  me." 

It  was  the  same  with  his  communion. 

"Is  it  true  that  the  Blessed  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  is  mystically  concentrated  and  hidden  in  the 
wafer  which  will  be  placed  upon  my  tongue,  and 
that  he  will  pervade  my  being,  as  the  souls  of  a 
thousand  roses  are  concentrated  in  a  vial  of  attar, 
and  scent  all  the  house  with  their  sweetness  ?  I  do 
not  know.  Nothing  that  God  wills  is  impossible. 
If  I  cry  out  to  him,  O  my  Father,  I  search,  and 
grope,  and  cannot  find  my  Saviour!  Send  him, 
therefore,  to  meet  my  soul  in  this  wafer,  that  I 
may  live  !  At  this  point  let  me  touch  him,  and 
receive  help,  as  the  sick  woman  received  it  from 
his  garment's  hem!  — he  could  meet  me  there,  if  it 
were  his  will,  and  pour  all  heaven  into  my  soul 
through  that  channel.  Does  he  will  it?  I  do  not 
know.  But  since  it  is  not  impossible,  I  will  bow 
myself  as  if  he  were  here.  Is  there  a  place  where 
God  is  not?" 

Such  was  Professor  Mora's  Easter  Communion; 
and  many  a  formal  communicant  was  less  devout. 

It  is  true  that  he  had  bent  in  heathen  temples 
with  an  almost  equal  devotion ;  but  it  was  always  to 
the  same  God. 

"  Show  me  the  path  by  which  the  instinct  of  wor- 
ship in  any  people,  or  individual,  climbs  to  what 
it  can  best  conceive  of  the  Divine,"  he  said,  "and 


SAN  SALVADOR.  ,  25 

there  I  will  find  the  footsteps  of  God  commg  to 
meet  that  soul.  A  stinbeam  falls  on  Ihnpid  water 
and  a  lily,  and  they  shine  like  jewels.  The  same 
beam,  turning,  falls  unshrinkingly  on  the  muddy 
pool,  that  brightens  also  after  its  manner,  and  as 
well  as  it  can." 

I  To  him  the  Indian  praying-wheel,  so  often  de- 
nounced as  the  height  of  material  superstition, 
might  be  made  to  indicate  a  fuller  conception  of 
the  infinity  of  God  than  was  to  be  found  in  much 
of  the  worship  that  calls  itself  intelligent  and  spir- 
itual. Written  over  and  over  on  the  parchment 
wound  about  this  wheel  is  the  one  brief  prayer, 
"O  Jewel  in  the  Lotos,  Amen!"  Their  Divine 
One  was  as  the  light  of  the  morning  embodied  and 
seated  on  a  lotos-flower.  Their  prayer  confesses 
nothing  and  asks  nothing;  yet  it  confesses  and 
asks  all.  It  is  a  dull  longing  in  the  dull,  and  a 
lark  song  in  the  spiritual.  It  expresses  their  de- 
spair of  being  able  to  tell  his  greatness,  or  their 
need  of  him.  It  repeats  itself  as  the  flutterings  of  a 
bird's  wings  repeat  themselves  when  it  soars.  The 
soul  says,  "As  many  times  as  it  is  here  inscribed, 
multiplied  by  as  many  times  as  the  wheel  revolves 
when  I  touch  it,  and  yet  a  million  times  more,  do 
I  praise  thee,  do  I  implore  thee,  do  I  love  thee,  O 
thou  Divine  Light  of  the  world  !  Even  as  the 
planets  whirl  ceaselessly  wrapped  about  in  the 
hieroglyphs  of  obedience  to  thy  laws,  so  does  this 
wheel,  encircled  by  the  aspirations  of  our  worship, 
speak  to  thee  for  us." 


26  SAN  SALVADOR. 

He  entered  one  of  their  temples  with  respect,  and 
kneeling  there,  remembered  what  their  Hindu 
teachers  had  said  to  him : 

r^' Owing  to  the  greatness  of  the  Deity,  the  One 
Soul  is  lauded  in  many  ways.  The  different  Gods 
are  the  members  of  the  One  Soul." 

And  also:  "One  cannot  attain  to  the  Divine  Sun 
through  the  word,  through  the  mind,  or  through 
the  eye.  It  is  only  reached  by  him  who  says,  'It 
is!     It  is!'" 

As  he  meditated  then  with  the  door  of  his  soul 
wide  open,  it  had  seemed  to  him  that  all  the  gods 
and  all  the  worships  of  liien  had  gathered  them- 
selves before  him,  and  mingled,  as  mists  gather 
into  a  cloud,  and  that  from  turbulent  they  had 
grown  still,  and  from  dark  they  had  gathered  to 
themselves  light,  growing  more  golden  in  the  cen- 
tre, as  though  their  divers  elements  were  purifying 
themselves  to  form  some  new  unity,  till  the  crude 
and  useless  all  melted  away,  parting  to  disclose  an 
infant  seated  on  a  lotos-flower,  and  shining  like  the 
morning  sun.  And  the  lotos -flower  was  the  figure 
of  a  pure  woman. 

"It  is!  It  is!  "he  had  said  then.  And  that 
wide  essential  faith  had  survived,  though  for  de- 
tails of  dogma  he  had  gone  out  of  the  world  with 
the  same  word  with  which  he  had  begun  his  stud- 
ies:  "I  do  not  know!  " 

A  funeral  gondola  came  and  took  his  body  away, 
several  gentlemen,  Don  Claudio  among  them,  ac- 
companying. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  27 

Tacita,  wrapped  in  the  window  curtain,  watched 
them  till  the  gondola  disappeared  under  the  Rialto 
bridge,  then  threw  herself,  sobbing,  into  her  com- 
panion's arms. 

The  nurse  persuaded  her  to  seek  some  occupa- 
tion. "Come  and  help  me  make  out  the  list  of 
books  that  Don  Claudio  is  to  have,"  she  said. 

Professor  Mora  had  given  a  large  part  of  his 
choice  library  to  Don  Claudio. 

This  woman,  Elena,  had  an  interesting  face. 
There  was  something  noble  in  the  calm,  direct  look 
of  her  eyes,  and  in  her  healthy  matronly  figure. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  her  manners,  ex- 
cept by  saying  that  there  was  nothing  lacking,  and 
nothing  superfluous. 

One  sees  occasionally  a  great  lady  whose  char- 
acter is  equal  to  her  social  position,  who  has  that 
manner  without  mannerism.  A  certain  transj^ar- 
ency  of  action  follows  the  outlines  of  the  intention. 
When  this  woman  spoke,  she  had  something  to 
say,  not  often  anything  brilliant,  or  profound,  but 
something  which  the  moment  required. 

Tacita  at  once  busied  herself  with  the  list,  and 
found  comfort  in  it.  She  needed  comforting ;  for 
she  was  of  a  tenderly  loving  nature,  and  her  al- 
most cloistered  life  had  confined  her  interests  to 
that  home  circle  now  quite  broken  up.  Her  father 
had  died  in  her  infancy.  Her  mother,  not  much 
older  than  herself,  had  been  her  constant  compan- 
ion, friend  and  confidant.  The  loss  of  her  had 
been   a   crushing  one;  and  the  wound  still  bled. 


28  SAN  SALVADOR. 

But  she  and  her  grandfather  had  consoled  each 
other;  and  while  he  lived  the  mother  had  seemed 
near.     Now  he,  too,  was  gone ! 

And  there  was  yet  another  pain.  Some  little 
tendrils  of  habit  and  affection  had  wound  them- 
selves about  her  grandfather's  favorite  pupil,  and 
they  bled  in  the  breaking.  For  they  were  to  sep- 
arate at  once.  Nor  had  she  any  wish  to  remain  in 
Venice.  She  well  knew  that  she  would  not  be  al- 
lowed to  see  Don  Claudio,  except  at  her  peril,  and 
that  jealous  eyes  were  already  fixed  upon  them. 

Yet  how  slight,  how  innocent  their  intercourse 
had  been !  She  went  over  it  all  again  in  fancy  as 
she  took  down  book  after  book. 

She  and  Don  Claudio  had  always  saluted  each 
other  when  he  came ;  at  first,  with  a  ceremonious 
bow,  later,  with  a  smile.     They  seldom  spoke. 

The  table,  piled  with  books,  at  which  the  pro- 
fessor and  his  pupil  sat,  was  placed  before  the  la- 
goon window,  where,  later,  the  old  man's  death- 
bed had  been  drawn.  Her  place  was  at  a  little 
casement  window  on  the  rio  that  ran  beside  the 
house.  They  spoke  in  languages  which  she  did 
not  understand,  and  she  had  often  dropped  her 
work  to  listen. 

Sometimes,  in  going,  his  eyes  had  looked  a  wish 
to  linger ;  but  she  did  not  know  how  he  had  longed 
to  stay,  nor  how  many  glances  had  strayed  from 
the  piles  of  books  to  her  face.  The  graceful  con- 
tours of  her  form,  her  delicate  whiteness,  her 
modesty,  her  violet  eyes,  the  golden  lights  in  her 
hair  —  he  had  learned  them  all  by  heart. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  29 

"Taclta.  Yes,"  he  liad  thought,  "that  is  the 
right  name  for  her.  She  stays  there  in  that  flick- 
ering light  and  shade  as  silent  as  any  lily  !  " 

Their  world  had  been  the  world  of  a  Claude 
landscape,  all  floating  in  a  golden  haze. 

Once  they  had  all  gone  out  into  the  balcony  to 
watch  a  steamship  from  Cairo  move  up  the  lagoon 
that  was  all  radiant  and  red  with  the  setting  sun. 
Another  time  a  thunder-storm  had  darkened  about 
them,  so  that  they  could  scarcely  see  each  other, 
and  Don  Claudio,  coming  to  her  table,  had  asked 
softly,  — 

"Are  you  afraid,  Tacita?" 

Another  time  he  had  brought  her 'some  roses 
from  his  mother's  garden. 

And  now,  everything  was  ended! 

"He  will  come  to-morrow  for  his  books,"  she 
thoudit:  "and,  after  that,  we  shall  never  see  each 
other  again.  But  we  shall  be  alone  together  once, 
and  speak  a  word  of  the  past,  and  say  farewell, 
like  friends." 

It  was  all  that  she  expected,  or  consciously 
wished  for,  a  friendly  and  sympathizing  word,  a 
clasp  of  the  hand,  the  first  and  the  last,  and  a 
"God  be  with  you!"  It  would  have  sweetened 
her  sorrow  and  loneliness. 

After  the  visit  of  the  Marchesa  Loredan,  Tac- 
ita's  grandfather  had  talked  with  her;  and  the  girl 
had  assured  him  that  there  was  nothing  between 
her  and  Don  Claudio  but  the  calmest  good-will. 
Her  naturally  quiet  disposition  had  not  been  dis- 


30  SAN  SALVADOR. 

turbed  in  his  regard.  But  the  thought  that  this 
was  to  be  their  last  meeting,  and  that  for  the  first 
time  they  would  be  alone,  could  not  fail  to  agitate 
her  somewhat;  and  when  n)orning  came,  her  ex- 
pectation became  a  fluttering. 

The  books  were  all  sorted,  the  house  all  ready 
for  their  departure.  She  and  Elena  would  leave 
Venice  the  next  morning.  She  was  alone  in  the 
room  where  her  grandfather  had  studied,  taught, 
and  died. 

There  was  a  sound  of  oars  that  came  nearer. 
She  listened,  but  would  not  look.  "  What  can  it 
mean?"  she  thought.  "There  are  double  oars; 
and  he  has  but  one  gondolier." 

Gian,  the  man-servant,  entered  and  announced 
the  Marchesa  Loredan  and  Don  Claudio;  and  at 
the  same  instant  Elena  slipped  hastily  into  the 
room,  that  her  charge  might  not  be  found  alone. 

Tacita's  heart  sank  heavily.  She  greeted  her 
visitors  with  an  equal  coldness,  though  Don  Clau- 
dio's  face  implored  her  pardon. 

"Your  books  are  all  ready,  Don  Claudio,"  she 
said,  when  she  could  speak.  "Professor  Mora 
said  that  you  were  to  have  those  that  are  marked 
with  a  white  star.  Gian  will  take  them  down. 
Here  is  the  list." 

She  gave  him  the  paper,  and  he  received  it, 
blushing  with  shame.  He  could  not  utter  a  word. 
But  the  Marchesa 's  voluble  condolences  and  com- 
pliments covered  all  defects  in  the  conversation. 

She  was  glad  that  the  signorina  was  going  to 


SAN  SALVADOR.  31 

travel  for  a  time.  Nothing  distracted  one  from 
sorrow  like  traveling.  Was  there  anything  that 
the  Marchesa  could  do  for  her?  She  would  send 
her  maid  to  the  railway-station  the  next  morning 
with  a  basket  of  luncheon  for  the  travelers.  If  she 
could  help  them  in  any  other  way,  the  signorina 
might  speak  freely. 

Tacita  recollected  the  reply  of  Diogenes  when 
Alexander  asked:  "Is  there  anything  that  I  can 
do  for  you?" 

"Only  stand  a  little  out  of  my  sunshine,"  said 
Diogenes. 

The  Marchesa  was  most  grateful  for  Professor 
Mora's  gift  to  her  soi),,;  and  with  the  signorina's  ap- 
proval, Don  Claudio  proposed  to  erect  a  memorial 
tablet  in  St.  Michael's  to  his  honored  preceptor. 

The  proposal  pleased  and  touched  the  desolate 
girl,  and  she  tearfully  thanked  Don  Claudio. 

From  her  own  point  of  view  the  Marchesa  Lo- 
redan  had  been  very  kind.  Her  visit  would  put 
a  stop  to  any  serious  gossip  about  her  son  and 
Tacita;  and  she  had  shown  a  gracious  regard  and 
respect  for  the  dead  savant  and  his  family. 

She  had  a  very  comfortable  sense  of  having  done 
her  duty,  and  been  prudent  in  her  own  affairs  at 
the  same  time.  That  both  Tacita  and  her  grand- 
father would  have  regarded  such  gossip  with  loath- 
ing and  contempt,  and  that  they  set  no  very  high 
value  on  her  approval,  she  did  not  dream. 

"Don  Claudio  should  have  been  the  one  to  tell 
me  this,"  Tacita  thought. 


32  SAN  SALVADOR. 

The  books  were  carried  down,  the  laborious  visit 
came  to  an  end,  the  orphan  was  alone  again,  her 
sweet,  sad  hope  crushed  like  a  fragile  flower. 

"Elena,  take  me  away  from  here!"  she  ex- 
claimed. "No  one  has  any  heart.  Take  me 
away! " 

"Don't  cry,  dear!  We  will  go  in  the  morn- 
ing," her  friend  said  soothingly.  "Don  Claudio 
will  come  to  take  leave  of  you  at  the  station.  He 
found  a  chance  to  tell  me  so.  He  said  that  he 
could  not  get  away  alone  this  morning." 

"She  is  cruel,  and  he  is  weak,"  said  Tacita.  "I 
like  not  a  weak  man." 

Elena  shook  her  head.  "Ah!  my  dear,  a  man 
is  usually  weak  before  a  strong-willed  woman  who 
loves  herself  better  than  she  does  him." 

Don  Claudio  was,  in  fact,  waiting  at  the  station 
when  they  arrived  there  the  next  morning. 

"I  could  not  let  you  go  without  a  word,"  he  said 
in  an  agitated  murmur.  "I  shall  always  remem- 
ber, and  regret.  Oh !  the  sweet  old  days !  Tacita, 
do  not  you  see  that  my  heart  is  breaking?" 

"Dear  friend,"  she  answered  gently,  "we  will 
remember  each  other  with  a  tender  friendship. 
Your  heart  will  not  break.  It  must  not.  A  lov- 
ing wife  will  console  you.     Addio  !  " 

"To  God  !  "  There  could  be  no  more  perfect 
parting  word.  They  clasped  hands  for  one  trem- 
bling moment,  then  bowed  their  heads,  and  turned 
away. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Among  those  who  were  on  the  steps  of  San  Mi- 
chele  when  the  funeral  gondola  of  Professor  Mora 
reached  them  was  a  man  who  seemed  to  be  waiting 
to  assist  at  his  burial.  He  followed  to  the  chapel, 
and  went  away  as  soon  as  the  service  was  over. 

He  was  a  young  man,  scarcely  more  than  thirty 
years  of  age,  a  little  taller  than  medium,  slender, 
but  athletic,  and  of  a  dark  complexion.  In  the 
light,  his  dark  hair  had  an  auburn  tinge,  and  his 
dark  eyes  a  violet  shade.  His  fine  serious  face  had 
a  look  of  high  intelligence,  and  in  the  church, 
something  even  exalted,  in  its  expression.  He  had 
brows  to  which  Lavater  would  have  ascribed  great 
powers  of  observation ;  and  his  look  v/as  steady  and 
penetrating.  It  recalled  the  old  story  of  disguised 
deities  who  were  recognized  by  their  moveless  eye- 
balls. He  was  quiet,  and  his  dress  was  conven- 
tional, neither  fine  nor  coarse.  Both  face  and  man- 
ner expressed  refinement.  It  could  be  seen  that  his 
hands  bore  the  marks  of  labor.  If  you  had  asked 
what  his  trade  was,  he  would  have  said  that  he  was 
a  carpenter.  Those  who  looked  at  him  once  with 
any  attention,  looked  again. 

When  the  funeral  was  over,  this  young  man 
crossed  the  Lagima  Morta,  and  landed  at  the  steps 


34  SAN  SALVADOR. 

behind  San  Marco.  He  went  round  into  the 
church,  looking  at  every  part  of  it  attentively. 
He  did  not  appear  to  be  either  an  artist  or  a  wor- 
shiper, still  less  a  tourist. 

He  might  have  been  taken  for  an  artisan  who 
examined  intelligently,  but  without  enthusiasm,  to 
see  how  the  work  was  done.  A  closer  view  of  his 
luminous  dark  eyes  revealed  a  second  expression, 
something  mystical  and  exalted,  as  though  he  looked 
through  the  object  his  glance  touched,  and  saw, 
not  only  the  workman  who  had  wrought  it,  but  his 
mind  and  intention. 

He  made  one  slow  circuit  of  the  church,  uttering 
not  a  word  till  he  went  up  stairs  and  looked  at  the 
Judas  hanging  to  a  tree,  the  fresco  half  hidden  in 
a  corner  of  the  gallery. 

'''Absit/^^  he  exclaimed  then,  shuddering. 

As  he  went  out  of  the  church,  an  old  man  seated 
on  the  step  tried  to  rise,  but  with  difficulty,  being 
lame.     The  stranger  aided  him. 

"You  suffer,"  he  said  kindly.  "Are  you  very 
poor?" 

"I  do  not  suffer  much,"  the  old  man  replied  in  a 
cheerful  tone.  "But  my  joints  are  stiff.  And  I 
am  not  poor.  I  have  a  son  who  earns  good  wages, 
thank  God  !  " 

A  sweet  smile  lighted  for  an  instant  the  stran- 
ger's face.  "Addio,  brother  I  "  he  said,  and  went 
on,  out  through  the  piazzetta,  and  down  the  Riva 
degli  Schiavoni. 

Near  a  rio  along  which  stretched  a  garden,  sev- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  35 

eral  boys  were  engaged  with  some  object  around 
which  they  were  crouched  on  the  pavement.  It 
proved  to  be  a  little  green  lizard  which  they  had 
caught  on  the  garden  wall.  They  were  trying  to 
harness  it  to  a  bunch  of  leaves.  The  little  thing 
lay  on  its  back,  gasping. 

The  stranger,  with  a  quick,  fiery  movement, 
pushed  the  boys  aside,  and  released  their  captive. 
He  took  the  nearly  dead  creature  in  his  hand,  and 
carried  it  to  the  garden  wall,  then  returned  to  the 
boys,  who  had  been  surprised  into  a  temporary 
quiescence. 

"Boys,"  he  said,  "when  some  strong,  cruel  per- 
son shall  make  you  suffer  for  his  amusement,  re- 
member that  lizard.  If  you  should  some  day  be 
helj^less  and  terrified  and  parched  with  thirst,  re- 
member it." 

He  left  them  speechlessly  staring  at  him,  called 
a  gondola,  and  gave  the  direction  of  the  railway 
station.  As  he  passed  Ca'  Mora,  he  looked  ear- 
nestly at  the  window  over  the  balcony.  Elena 
stepped  out  and  saw  him.  He  raised  his  hand 
above  his  face  in  salutation,  and  she  replied,  rais- 
ing her  hand  in  the  same  way. 

When  he  reached  the  railway  landing,  two  gon- 
doliers were  standing  on  the  steps,  confronting  each 
other  in  loud  and  angry  dispute.  They  gesticu- 
lated, and  flung  profane  and  furious  epithets  at 
each  other. 

The  stranger  paused  near  them,  and  looked  at 
one  of   the  disputants  with   a    steady   gaze    that 


36  SAN  SALVADOR. 

seemed  presently  to  cheek  his  volubility.  The 
man  grew  uneasy,  his  attention  was  divided,  he 
faltered  in  some  retort,  then  turned  abruptly  away 
from  his  still  menacing  antagonist,  and  began  to 
fumble  with  the  oars  smdjelse  of  his  gondola. 

The  stranger  went  into  the  station  and  bought 
his  ticket.  As  he  stood  waiting,  the  gondolier  he 
had  observed  came  in  and  accosted  him  respect- 
fully, and  with  some  embarrassment. 

"I  suppose  you  thought  I  was  behaving  badly, 
signore,"  he  said.  "But  Piero  has  got  three  pas- 
sengers away  from  me  to-day,  and  1  could  n't  stand 
it." 

"I  have  not  condemned  you,  friend,"  said  the 
stranger  mildly.  "  What  does  your  own  judgment 
say'?" 

The  man's  eyes  fell.  "I  needn't  have  used 
certain  words,"  he  said  in  a  low  tone. 

"Your  judgment  decides  well,"  said  the  stranger « 
"It  has  no  need  of  my  interference.  Addio,  Gian- 
battista  Feroli." 

"Addio I"  the  gondolier  echoed  dreamily,  and 
stood  looking  after  him.  "He  has  a  saint's  face," 
he  muttered.      "But  how  did  he  know  my  name  !  " 


CHAPTER   IV. 

On  leaving  Venice,  Tacita  Mora's  ultimate  des- 
tination was  to  go  to  lier  mother's  relatives,  after 
some  months  spent  in  travel.  Elena  was  to  be  her 
companion  and  guardian  on  the  journey. 

Who  her  mother's  relatives  were,  and  where  they 
were,  she  did  not  know.  She  had  once  asked  her 
mother,  who  replied,  — 

"My  child,  it  is  better,  for  many  reasons,  that 
you  should  not  know  till  you  see  them.  They  are 
quiet,  res]3ectable  people.  You  have  nothmg  to 
disturb  your  mind  about  on  their  account.  They 
know  of  you.  They  will  keep  track  of  you,  and 
seek  you  at  the  proper  time. 

"But,  as  I  do  not  wish  others,  who  would  be  un- 
friendly, should  know  of  them,  it  is  better  that  you 
should  remain  ignorant  for  the  present.  People 
may  ask  you  questions,  and  you  will  thus  be  spared 
the  trouble  of  evading,  or  refusing  to  answer. 
Confide  in  no  one.  Absolutely,  confide  in  no  one, 
as  you  value  your  life !  The  person  who  displays 
curiosity  concerning  your  private  affairs  is  the  very 
last  person  whom  you  should  trust.  Curiosity  is 
a  tattler,  or  an  insinuator.  Do  not  talk  of  your 
personal  affairs  outside  of  your  own  family.  I 
will  give  you  a  sign  by  which  my  people  are  to  be 


38  SAN  SALVADOR. 

recosfiiized.  You  are  never  to  i^ive  that  to  any 
one,  even  to  them,  nor  to  intimate  that  you  know 
such  a  sign.  They  will  give  it  to  you,  anywhere, 
if  there  should  be  need.  If  no  trouble  should  oc- 
cur, it  will  be  given  you  by  the  side  of  a  rock.  To 
such  a  person  you  may  trust  everything." 

This  conversation  had  taken  place  on  their  last 
visit  to  the  Lido,  as  they  walked  on  the  sands, 
picking  up  shells,  and  dropping  them  again. 

Professor  Mora  had  given  his  granddaughter  the 
same  charge,  adding,  — 

"  Some  one  may  solicit  you  artfully,  suspecting  a 
secret,  and  pretending  to  know  it.  Beware  of  the 
curious.  For  your  life,  remain  firm  and  silent ! 
And  now,  forget  it  all  till  the  time  shall  come  to 
remember.  Do  not  let  your  imagination  dwell 
upon  the  subject." 

It  was  with  this  prospect  that  the  orphan  set  out 
on  her  travels. 

Never  was  there  a  better  companion  than  hers 
proved  to  be.  The  nurse  had  traveled  extensively, 
and  was  guardian,  friend,  and  courier  in  one.  She 
had  all  the  firmness  and  courage  that  a  man  could 
have,  with  the  more  ingratiating  ways  of  a  woman. 
And  she  was  an  intelligent  guide. 

Tacita  was  to  remain  under  this  woman's  protec- 
tion till  her  friends  should  claim  her.  She  would 
then  place  herself  entirely  under  their  guardian- 
ship, and  remain  with  them,  if  contented,  five 
years.  If  she  should  desire  to  leave  them  before 
that  time  should  expire,  they  were  to  find  a  re- 


SAN  SALVADOli.  39 

treat  for  her.  Her  fortune  was  invested,  and  the 
income  regularly  paid;  but  how  it  was  placed  she 
did  not  ask.  She  only  knew  to  whom  she  was  to 
look  for  money,  and  to  whom  she  was  to  appeal  in 
case  of  accident.  These  persons  were  rather  nu- 
merous, and  were  scattered  over  the  greater  part  of 
Europe.  None  were  of  any  special  distinction,  and 
none  were  bankers.  There  was  a  musician  of  re- 
pute among  them,  and  a  public  singer. 

Elena  was  also  to  join  friends  of  her  own  whom 
she  had  not  seen  for  years,  when  she  should  have 
placed  her  charge  in  safety.  Who  and  where  these 
friends  were,  Tacita  took  good  care  not  to  inquire. 
They  were  people  who  lived  in  a  small  mountain 
city,  Elena  volunteered  to  tell  her.  "And  per- 
haps, dear,  you  might  like  to  go  there  with  me." 

"I  would  go  anywhere  with  you!"  Tacita  said 
warmly.  "I  do  not  dare  to  think  of  a  time  when 
I  must  lose  you.  I  will  not  anticipate  trouble; 
but  when  we  have  to  part,  you  may  be  sure  that  I 
shall  insist  on  an  appointment  for  a  meeting  not 
far  distant  in  time." 

Traveling  was  a  delight  to  Tacita.  She  had  all 
that  curiosity  to  see  the  world  that  a  child  has  to 
whom  the  world  is  fairyland.  The  names  of  some 
places  were  to  her  like  roses,  or  music,  or  like  roll- 
ing thunder.  She  had  read  of  them  in  prose  and 
song.  When  she  looked  at  them,  in  their  possibly 
unimpressive  features,  she  still  found  traces  of 
their  story,  like  the  furrows  left  in  a  face  by  some 
tragical  experience. 


40  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"Oh,  the  waterfalls  I  "  she  exclanned,  as  their 
train  rolled  through  the  Alps.  "So  white  above, 
so  green  and  white  below  !  Where  can  I  have  seen 
a  wdiite  scarf  like  that  wavering  down  from  a 
height!  Perhaps  I  passed  this  way  with  my 
mother  when  first  we  came  to  Venice.  It  is  such 
a  fresh  wild  place !  " 

She  stood  to  look  down  at  the  torrent  foaming 
among  gray  rocks  below ;  then  leaned  back  on  the 
cushions,  and  fixed  her  eyes  on  the  snow-peaks  that 
seemed  almost  in  the  zenith. 

"I  remember  so  much  that  my  grandfather  used 
to  say,  though  I  seemed  often  to  listen  carelessly," 
she  said.  "He  sometimes  made  such  an  odd  im- 
pression on  my  mind.  It  might  be  he  would  talk 
half  to  me  and  half  to  himself,  as  if  thinking 
aloud.  He  would  seem  to  open  the  door  of  a  sub- 
ject, look  in  curiously,  find  it  unpromising,  and 
come  out  again.  Or  he  would  brighten  as  if  he 
had  found  a  treasure,  and  go  on  talking  beautifully. 
When  some  astronomer  had  discovered  a  new  star, 
he  said  the  Te  Deum  should  be  sung  in  the 
churches,  and  he  gave  an  alms  and  kept  a  lamp 
burning  all  night  in  honor  of  it,  and  we  had  ices  in 
the  evening.  And  before  we  separated  to  go  to 
our  rooms,  he  read  the  Gloria,  and  said  three 
times  over  the  sentence,  'We  give  thee  thanks  for 
thy  great  glory.'  Listening  to  him,  I  sometimes 
felt  as  though  people's  minds  were,  for  the  greater 
part,  like  the  tossing  waves  of  a  stormy  sea.  He 
said  once  of  a  crowd,  'They  do  not  think;  some 


SAN  SALVADOB.  41 

one  has  set  them  swinging.  I  wonder  what  sets 
them  all  swinging!  There  is  God,  of  course. 
But  what  instrument  does  he  use?  The  stress  of 
circumstance  ?  Or  is  the  tidal  wave  that  gives  the 
impulse  some  human  mind  fully  alive  ?  '  .1  think 
the  human  mind  was  his  idea.  He  said  that  some 
people  were  cooled  off  and  crusted  over  like  plan- 
ets, and  others  all  alive,  like  suns.  He  used  to 
speak  of  reflective  men  and  light-giving  men.  He 
was  light-giving." 

They  visited  Germany  and  the  North,  France, 
Great  Britain,  Spain  and  Algiers ;  and  Tacita  was 
getting  very  tired,  though  she  did  not  say  so. 
Elena  had  acquaintances  in  all  those  countries,  and 
appeared  to  have  errands  in  some.  A  year  passed. 
It  was  spring  again  when  they  reached  Seville  from 
Africa,  saw  the  Holy  Week  processions,  and  laid 
in  a  store  of  fans,  silver  filigree  buttons,  sashes, 
and  photographs.  Already  a  large  number  of 
boxes  had  been  sent  "home"  from  the  different 
countries  they  had  seen. 

The  evening  before  setting  out  from  Seville  to 
Madrid,  Elena,  for  the  first  time,  asked  Tacita 
concerning  her  mother's  relatives. 

"If  you  do  not  know  them,  nor  where  they  are," 
she  said,  "how  can  you  communicate  with  them?" 

"Both  my  mother  and  grandfather  told  me  to 
give  myself  no  uneasiness,"  Tacita  replied.  "I 
thought  that  it  was  all  settled  with  you.  We  are 
soon  to  visit  your  home.  After  that,  they  will  prob- 
ably come,  or  send  for  me.     Are  you  impatient?" 


42  SAN  SALVADOR. 

''Certainly  not,  my  dear  I  I  would  most  wil- 
lingly keep  you  always  with  me.  But  you  have 
money,  and  some  dishonest  person  might  attempt 
to  deceive  you." 

"Oh!  I  have  no  fear,"  said  Tacita  with  a  re- 
serve that  savored  of  coldness.  She  was  surprised 
that  the  subject  had  been  introduced,  and  aston- 
ished at  her  companion's  persistence.  It  seemed 
to  have  been  avoided  by  mutual  consent. 

"Tell  me  how  you  will  know  them,  and  we  will 
seek  them  together,"  said  Elena. 

"I  have  not  to  seek  them,"  said  Tacita  with  de- 
cided coohiess. 

"Is  there,  then,  a  secret?"  asked  her  companion, 
with  playful  mockery. 

Tacita  looked  at  her  steadily,  and  grew  pale. 
"I  thought  that  I  knew  you;  and  I  do  not,"  she 
said. 

Elena  resumed  her  dignity.  "If  you  really  ob- 
ject to  telling  me,  then  I  will  not  ask,"  she  said. 
"You  had  not  mentioned  the  fact  that  it  was  a 
great  secret." 

"Nor  have  I  said  so  now,"  answered  the  girl 
with  a  look  of  distress.  "My  mother  talked  with 
me  of  our  affairs  just  before  she  died,  and  my 
grandfather  gave  me  some  directions.  What  they 
said  to  me  is  sacred,  and  is  mine.  I  do  not  wish  to 
talk  of  it." 

"You  swear  that  you  will  not  tell  me?"  said 
Elena,  looking  at  her  keenly. 

"I  will  not  swear  to  anything!  "  exclaimed  Ta- 


SAN  SALVADOK,  43 

cita.      "  And  I  request  you  not  to  mention  the  sub- 
ject again." 

"We  will  then  dismiss  it,"  said  her  companion, 
and  rose  to  leave  the  room.  "I  presumed  on  what 
I  thought* was  a  confidential  friendship,  and  on  the 
fact  that  your  family  confided  you  to  me." 

Tacita  said  nothing.  Her  head  drooped.  All 
her  past  sorrows  seemed  to  return  upon  her.  This 
woman,  heretofore  so  dignified  and  so  delicate,  had 
appeared  to  her  in  a  new  light.  She  had  some- 
times fancied  that  Elena  understood  something  of 
her  affairs;  but,  apparently,  she  did  not.  That 
she  should  show  a  vulgar  and  persistent  curiosity 
was  shocking. 

After  a  while  Elena  came  into  the  room,  and 
standing  at  a  window%  looked  out  into  the  purple 
twilight  starred  with  lamps.  The  crowd  that  in 
Seville  seems  never  to  sleep  was  flowing  and  mur- 
muring through  the  plaza  and  the  streets. 

Tacita  was  weeping  silently. 

"My  dear  child  !  "  exclaimed  the  woman,  going 
to  embrace  her.      "Are  w^e  not  friends?" 

"You  made  me  fear  that  we  were  not,"  said 
Tacita. 

"Dismiss  that  fear  !  I  will  never  so  offend  you 
again." 


CHAPTER   V. 

One  morning  shortly  after  their  arrival  at  Ma- 
drid, the  two  went  to  the  great  picture-gallery,  of 
all  picture-galleries  the  most  delightful. 

"When  you  shall  have  seen  Murillo's  Concep- 
tions," Elena  said,  "you  will  see  the  difference  be- 
tween a  sweet  human  nature  and  a  supernatural 
creature.  Raphael  has  painted  good  and  beauti- 
ful women  full  of  religious  feeling;  Marillo  has 
painted  the  miraculous  woman.  The  Spaniard  had 
a  vision  of  the  Divine." 

"You  have  been  in  Madrid  before?  " 

"For  two  years,"  said  Elena  quietly. 

They  entered  the  large  hall.  It  was  early  for 
visitors ;  but  two  artists  were  there  copying.  One 
had  had  the  courage  to  set  his  easel  up  before  one 
of  Murillo's  large  Conceptions. 

Tacita  seated  herself  before  that  heavenly  vision, 
and  became  absorbed  in  it.  It  was  a  revelation  to 
her.  The  small  picture  in  the  Louvre  had  made 
but  a  slight  impression  on  her,  weary  as  she  was  » 
with  sight-seeing.  But  here  was  a  reflection  of 
heaven  itself  in  the  exquisite  figure  that  floated  be- 
fore her  supported  on  a  wreath  of  angels,  the  white 
robe  falling  about  her  in  veiling  folds,  and  the  long 
cerulean  scarf  full  of  that  same  wind  that  shook 


SAN  SALVADOR.  45 

the  house   wherein  waited   the   Apostles    and  the 
Marys  when  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  them. 
The  two  little  hands  were  pressed  palm  to  palm, 
the  long  black  hair  fell  down  her  shoulders,  her 
larg-e  black  eyes,  fixed  on  some  dawning,  ineffable 
glory,  were  full  of  a  solemn  radiance,  her  delicate 
face  was  like  a  white  lily  in  the  sunshine.     The 
figure  was  at  once  childlike,  angelic,  and  imposing. 
Tacita  had  not  removed  her  eyes  from  the  pic- 
ture when  Elena  came  to  touch  her  arm,  and  whis- 
pered :   "  Do  you  know  that  you  have  not  winked 
for  half  an  hour?" 

Tacita  roused  herself.  "I  scarcely  care  to  look 
at  anything  else  now,"  she  said.  "I  will  glance 
about  the  room  there,  and  then  go  home." 

She   went    into  the  Isabella  room,  and    walked 
slowly  along  the  wall.     Nothing  dazzled  her  after 
that  Murillo.     Even  Era  Angelico's  angels  looked 
insipidly  sweet  beside  its  ethereal  sublimity.     The 
"  Perla  "  kept  her  but  a  moment.     Those  radiant 
black  eyes  of  the  "Concepcion"  seemed  to  gaze  at 
her  from  every  canvas.     She  was  about  leaving  the 
room,  when  something  made  her  turn  back  to  look 
again  at  an  unremarkable  picture  catalogued  as  "  A 
Madonna  and  Saints."     Of  the  two  catalogues  she 
saw,   one  ascribed  it  to  Pordenone,   the  other  to 
Giorgione.      She    glanced    at    it  without  interest, 
wondering  why  she  had  stopped.     The  Madonna 
and  Child,  and  the  woman  who  held  out  to  them  a 
basket  of  red  and  white  roses  might  just  as  well  not 
have  been  painted  for  any   significance  they  had; 


46  SAN  SALVADOR. 

and  she  was  about  turning  away  when  she  caught 
sight  of  a  face  in  the  shadowed  corner  of  the  can- 
vas behind  the  kneeling  woman. 

This  was  no  conventional  saint.  The  man 
seemed  to  be  dressed  in  armor,  and  his  hand  rested 
on  a  sword-hilt  or  the  back  of  a  chair.  The  shad- 
ows swathed  him  thickly,  leaving  the  face  alone 
distinct.  One  guessed  at  a  slight  and  well-knit 
figure.  The  face  was  bronzed,  and  rather  thin,  the 
features  as  delicate  as  they  could  be  without  weak- 
ness. Dark  auburn  hair  fell  almost  to  the  shoul- 
ders, a  slight  moustache  shaded  the  lip,  a  small 
pointed  beard  the  chin.  The  brows  were  promi- 
nent, and  strong  enough  to  redeem  a  weak  face, 
even ;  and  beneath  them  were  the  eyes  that  go  with 
such  brows,  penetrating,  steady,  far-seeing,  and 
deep-seeing.  Those  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  Ma- 
donna and  Child,  not  in  adoration,  but  with  an  ear- 
nest attention.  He  stood  erect,  and  seemed  to  be 
studying  the  characters  of  those  two  beings  whom 
the  woman  before  him  knelt  to  worship.  Yet, 
reserved  and  incisive  as  the  look  was,  something 
of  sweetness  might  be  discerned  in  the  man's 
face. 

Tacita,  half  turned  to  go  away,  remained  gazing 
at  that  face,  fascinated.  What  a  fine  strength  and 
purity  I  What  reserve  and  what  firmness!  It 
was  a  face  that  could  flash  like  a  storm-cloud. 
Would  anything  ever  make  such  a  man  fear,  or 
be  weak,  careless,  or  cruel? 

Elena  came  and  stood  by  her,  but  said  nothing. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  47 

"Behold  a  man,"  said  Tacita,  "whom  I  would 
follow  through  the  world,  and  out  of  the  world!  " 

Her  companion  did  not  speak. 

"Why  was  I  not  in  the  world  when  he  lived  in 
it !  "  the  girl  went  on.  "  Or  why  is  he  not  here  now ! 
Fancy  that  face  smiling  approval  of  you !  Elena, 
do  the  dead  hear  us?  " 

"The  living  hear  us !  "  replied  the  woman.  "Is 
the  air  dead  because  you  cannot  see  it  ?  Is  it  pow- 
erless because  it  is  sometimes  still?  It  is  only  the 
ignoble  who  go  downward,  and  become  as  stones." 

She  spoke  calmly  and  with  a  sort  of  authority. 

They  went  out  together. 

"We  are  late  for  our  luncheon,"  Elena  said  as 
they  got  into  their  carriage.  "We  must  lose  no 
time,  if  we  are  to  see  the  king  and  queen  go  out 
to  drive.  Are  you  decided  to  leave  Madrid  to- 
morrow?" 

"I  don't  know,"  Tacita  replied  absently. 

"  I  shall  want  to  know  this  evening,  dear ;  so  try 
to  make  up  your  mind.  I  want  to  send  for  some 
of  my  people  to  meet  us.  I  hope  that  you  will  like 
my  people." 

"If  they  are  like  you,  I  shall  love  them,"  Tacita 
said. 

"How  long  will  you  be  content  to  stay  with  us?  " 
the  woman  asked. 

"Plow  can  I  say,  Elena?  You  have  told  me 
that  your  people  are  quiet,  kind,  and  unpretending. 
That  is  pleasant,  but  only  that  is  not  enough  for  a 
long  time.     I  want  to  see  persons  who  know  more 


48  SAN  SALVADOR. 

than  1  do,  who  can  paint,  play  on  instruments, 
dance,  sing,  model,  write  poetry,  speak  with  elo- 
quence, and  govern  with  strength  and  justice.  I 
think  that  my  heart  would  turn  to  lead  if  I  had 
to  live  forever  with  people  who  were  uncultivated. 
But  if  your  people  are  like  you,  they  are  not 
merely  simple.  You  know  a  great  deal  more  than 
I  do;  and  you  are  always  simpatica.'''* 

"By  simplicity,  I  do  not  mean  ignorance,"  her 
friend  said.  "Professor  Mora  was  simple.  Some 
barbarous  persons  are  very  involved  and  obscure." 

"Oh I  if  you  speak  in  that  sense  "  — 

They  ate  their  luncheon,  stepped  into  the  car- 
riage that  was  waiting  for  them,  and  drove  to  the 
Plaza  del  Oriente.  A  good  many  persons  were 
standing  about  the  streets  there  waiting  to  see  the 
young  king  and  queen,  Alfonso  and  Cristina,  drive 
out.  It  was  a  gathering  of  leisurely,  serious-look- 
ing people,  with  very  few  among  them  showing 
signs  of  i^overty.  The  sky  was  limpid  above  the 
trees;  and  in  the  square  opposite  the  corner  at 
which  our  travelers  waited,  a  bronze  horseman 
seemed  leaping  into  the  blue  over  their  topmost 
boughs. 

Tacita  glanced  about  her,  at  the  people,  the  pal- 
ace gate  fi-om  which  the  royal  cortege  would  issue, 
at  the  bronze  horseman  in  the  air;  and  then,  turn- 
ing a  little  to  the  other  side,  saw  a  man  leaning 
carelessly  against  the  trunk  of  a  tree  —  saw  him, 
and  nothing  else. 

She  felt  as  though  she  had  received  an  electric 


SAN  SALVADOR.  49 

shock.  There  before  her  was  the  face  of  the  Gior- 
gione  picture,  every  feature  as  she  had  studied  it 
that  morning,  and  the  very  expression  of  which  she 
had  felt  the  power.  He  was  gazing  at  the  palace 
gate,  not  as  though  waiting  to  see,  but  already  see- 
ing. One  would  have  said  that  the  walls  were 
transparent  to  him,  and  that  he  was  so  absorbed  in 
observing  that  king  and  queen  whom  no  one  else 
saw  as  to  be  oblivious  to  all  about  him. 

His  dress  was  some  provincial  or  foreign  cos- 
tume. Black  velvet  short-clothes  were  held  at  the 
waist  by  a  fringed  scarf  of  black  silk.  His  short 
jacket  of  black  cloth  was  like  a  torero's  in  shape. 
He  wore  a  full  white  shirt,  black  stockings  and 
sandals,  and  a  scarlet  fez  on  his  dark  hair  in  which 
the  sunshine  found  an  auburn  tint. 

Tacita  gazed  at  him  with  eyes  as  intent  as  his 
own.  The  smileless  lips,  the  brow  with  its  second 
sight,  the  pointed  beard  and  faintly  bronzed  skin 
—  they  were  the  same  that  she  had  but  an  hour  or 
two  before  eno^raven  on  her  mind  in  lines  as  clear 
and  sharp  as  those  of  any  antique  intaglio. 

The  stranger  had  not  seemed  aware  of  her  obser- 
vation ;  and  the  distance  at  which  he  stood  from 
her  gave  no  reason  for  his  being  so.  But  pres- 
ently, when  she  began  to  wonder  if  he  would  ever 
stir,  he  went  quietly  to  a  poor  woman  who,  with  a 
child  in  her  arms,  leaned  against  the  fence  behind 
him,  and  took  the  child  from  her. 

She  looked  surprised,  but  yielded  in  silence. 
The  infant  stared  at  him,  but  made  no  resistance. 


50  SAN  SALVADOR. 

He  had  not  looked  directly  at  either  of  them,  nor 
addressed  them.  He  brought  the  child  to  the  car- 
riage, and  held  it  out,  his  eyes  lowered,  not  down- 
cast, nor  once  looking  at  its  occupants. 

Both  Tacita  and  Elena  silently  placed  a  silver 
coin  in  the  child's  hand. 

The  man  retreated  a  step,  respectful,  but  not 
saluting,  and  carried  the  child  to  its  mother.  She 
showed  in  receiving  it  the  same  silent  surprise  with 
which  she  had  yielded  it  to  him.  The  stranger  re- 
turned to  his  former  position  under  the  tree.  He 
had  not  looked  at  any  one,  nor  spoken  a  word ;  yet 
he  had  displayed  neither  affectation  nor  rudeness. 
A  winged  seed  could  not  have  floated  past  with 
more  simplicity  of  action,  nor  yet  with  more  grace. 

There  was  a  stir  among  the  people.  Two  horse- 
men had  issued  from  the  palace  gate,  and  an  open 
carriage  followed,  behind  which  were  again  two 
other  cavaliers.  Tacita  descended  hastily  from  the 
carriage.  In  doing  so  she  glanced  at  the  tree 
against  which  the  stranger  had  leaned ;  but  he  was 
no  longer  to  be  seen. 

The  royal  carriage  passed  by,  its  occupants  bow- 
ing courteously  to  the  young  traveler  who  courtesied 
from  her  post  on  the  sidewalk.  The  queen  was 
pale  and  sad-looking,  the  spirited  face  of  the  young 
king  had  something  in  its  expression  that  was  al- 
most defiant.  The  spectators  were  cold  and  merely 
civil.  At  such  a  sight  one  remembers  that  kings 
and  queens  have  also  hearts  that  may  be  wounded, 
and  that  they  sometimes  need  and  deserve  compas- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  51 

sion.  Few  of  them,  indeed,  have  willfully  grasped 
the  crown;  and  on  many  of  them  it  has  descended 
like  a  crown  of  thorns. 

"The  king  gives  the  queen  the  right  hand, 
though  she  is  queen  consort  only,"  Tacita  said  as 
they  drove  away.  "In  Italy  the  king  regnant  must 
absolutely  have  the  right;  and  etiquette  is  quite  as 
imperative  in  placing  the  gentleman  at  the  lady's 
left  hand.  Consequently,  the  king  and  queen  of 
Italy  do  not  drive  out  together.  Gallantry  yields 
to  law,  but  evades. a  rudeness." 

She  was  scarcely  conscious  of  what  she  was  say- 
ing. Her  eyes  were  searching  the  street  and 
square.  "What  is  his  name?  "  she  exclaimed  sud- 
denly, without  any  preface  whatever. 

"His  name  is  Dylar,"  answered  Elena.  "He 
will  make  a  part  of  the  journey  with  us." 

"He  is  from  your  place?"  Tacita  asked.  She 
could  not  have  told  whether  she  felt  a  sudden  joy 
or  a  sudden  disenchantment. 

"Yes,  he  is  from  our  place." 

"The  child  was  not  his? "  • 

"Oh,  no!" 

"Why  did  he  bring  it  to  us?  " 

"Probably  he  saw  that  they  were  poor." 

"Does  he  know  them?  " 

"  He  must  know  that  they  are  poor,  or  he  would 
not  have  asked  charity  for  them." 

"He  asked  nothing,"  said  Tacita, 

"Yet  you  gave." 

"It  is  true;  he  did  ask  and  seemed  sure  of  re- 


52  SAN  SALVADOR. 

ceiving.  Why  does  he  make  a  part  of  the  journey 
with  us?  " 

"He  knows  the  way  and  the  people.  He  will 
meet  us  when  we  cross  the  mountains." 

"I  wonder  if  they  are  the  mountains  that  my 
grandfather  remembered  !  "  thought  Tacita,  and 
asked  no  more.  Some  feeling  that  was  scarcely 
fear,  but  rather  a  sense  of  coming  fate,  began  to 
creep  over  her.  She  had  entered  upon  a  path 
from  which  there  was  no  retreat,  and  something 
mysterious  was  stealing  about  her  and  closing 
her  in. 

"D3lar  is  here,"  Elena  said  as  they  drove  into 
the  gardens  of  the  Ritiro.  "Shall  we  stop  and 
speak  to  him?  I  want  to  tell  him  when  we  will 
leave  Madrid.      What  shall  I  say?  " 

"We  will  leave  to-morrow  morning,"  Tacita 
said,  looking  eagerly  around.  Already  it  seemed 
to  her  a  wonderful  thing  to  hear  this  man  speak. 

He  was  walking  to  and  fro  under  the  trees,  and 
came  to  the  side  of  their  carriage  immediately. 
He  glanced  at  Tacita,  and  slowly  bowed  himself  in 
something  of  an  oriental  fashion.  One  might  have 
hesitated  whether  to  compare  his  manner  to  that  of 
a  perfectly  trained  servant  come  to  take  orders,  or 
to  the  confident  reserve  of  a  sovereign  about  to  hear 
if  his  orders  had  been  obeyed.  "The  signorina 
has  decided  to  set  out  to-morrow  morning,"  Elena 
said  to  him.      "We  shall  not  stop  anywhere." 

"I  will  meet  you  at  the  orange-f arm, "  the  man 
answered  quietly. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  53 

The  voice  was  clear  and  low,  tlie  enunciation 
perfect. 

He  looked  at  Tacita  with  a  reassuring  kindness. 
"Elena  knows  all  that  is  necessary,"  he  said. 
"Trust  to  her,  and  have  no  fear." 

She  felt  herself  in  the  presence  of  a  superior. 
"I  have  no  fear  now,"  she  replied;  and  thought, 
"How  did  he  know  that  I  was  afraid  !  " 

He  drew  back,  and  they  went  on  their  way, 
neither  speaking  of  what  had  occurred. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Tacita  resumed  her  journey  In  a  dream,  and 
pursued  it  in  a  dream.  She  asked  no  questions, 
and  observed  but  little,  though  at  times  it  seemed 
to  her  that  the  line  of  their  progress  was  a  zigzag. 
Did  they  cross  the  water  a  second  time  ?  Why  did 
they  travel  so  much  by  night,  and  sleep  by  day? 
She  did  not  care.  Her  mind  became  dimly  aware 
of  these  questions  rather  than  asked  them.  Had 
she  taken  hashish?  No  matter.  All  that  she 
wanted  was  rest.  Her  very  eyelashes  and  finger- 
nails were  weary.  Oh,  for  the  mountains,  for  a 
place  to  call  home,  and  rest ! 

She  received  the  impression  that  a  part  of  the 
country  through  which  they  passed  was  like  a 
burnt-out  world,  all  sand  and  black  rocks,  so  that 
the  limpid  rivulet  that  met  them  somewhere  was  a 
surprise.  She  wondered  languidly  that  it  was  not 
dried  up.  Was  it  a  week,  or  a  month,  since  Dylar 
had  said,  "  Have  no  fear  "  ?  No  matter.  She  had 
no  fear;  but  she  was,  oh,  so  weary!  Fortunately, 
nothing  was  required  of  her  but  passive  endurance 
of  fatigue.  She  was  borne  along,  and  tenderly 
cared  for. 

One  day  she  roused  herself  a  little,  or  something 
was  done  to  rouse  her.     They  were  in  an  easy  old 


SAN  SALVADOR.  55 

carriage  drawn  by  mules.  It  had  met  them  at  a 
solitary  little  station  of  which  she  had  not  seen  nor 
asked  the  name ;  and  they  had  been  driving  through 
a  dry  plain,  and  were  now  in  pine  woods. 

Elena  gave  her  some  little  cakes  of  chocolate  and 
slices  of  lemon.  "We  are  almost  out  of  provi- 
sions," she  said;  "but  in  an  hour  you  shall  have 
a  good  dinner;  and  then  to  bed  with  her,  like  a 
sleepy  child." 

Elena  was  smiling  brightly.  Tacita  gave  a  lan- 
guid smile  in  return,  and  leaned  back,  looking  out 
the  window.  The  pines  had  ceased,  and  there  was 
a- rice-field  at  one  side,  and  orange-trees  heavily 
laden  with  ripe  fruit  at  the  other. 

The  oranges  reminded  her  of  Naples,  which  she 
had  visited  when  a  child.  The  blue  bay  and  blue 
sky  seemed  to  sparkle  before  her,  the  songs  bub- 
bled up,  there  was  the  soft  splendor  of  profuse  flow- 
ers,  the  fruits,  the  joy  in  life,  the  careless  gayety; 
and,  crowning  these  delights,  that  ever-present 
menace  smoking  up  against  the  sky,  telling  of  boil- 
ing rivers  from  a  boiling  pit  of  inextinguishable 
fire  ever  ready  to  overflow,  bearing  destruction  to 
all  that  beauty. 

"The  utmost  of  earthly  delight  has  ever  its 
throne  on  the  edge  of  a  crater,"  she  thought. 

The  orange-trees  pressed  closer,  right  and  left, 
there  were  blossoms  with  the  fruit,  and  the  west- 
ern sun  shone  through  both.  The  air  was  fresh 
and  sweet.  She  saw  nothing  but  glossy  foliage  and 
golden  balls,  and  a  green  turf  strown  with  gold. 


56  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"It  is  Andalusia,  or  the  Hesperides!  "  she  said, 
waking,  and  sitting  up. 

Even  as  she  spoke,  the  green  and  gold  wall  came 
to  an  end,  and  at  a  little  distance  a  whitewashed 
stone  house  was  visible. 

"Look!  "  exclaimed  Elena;  and  leaning  toward 
her,  pointed  upward  out  of  the  carriage  window. 

Behind  the  house,  showing  over  its  roof  like  a 
crown  on  a  head,  was  a  curve  of  olive-trees  on  a 
hill-top.  Above  the  trees  rose  wild  rocks  in  fan- 
tastic peaks  and  precipices,  and  above  the  rocks, 
closely  serrated,  was  a  range  of  AljD-like  mountains 
upholding  a  mass  of  snow  and  ice  that  glittered 
rosily  in  the  sunset. 

"  Is  it  your  home  ?  "  asked  Tacita  eagerly.  "  How 
beautiful  I" 

"Not  yet,"  her  friend  answered,  her  eyes,  filled 
with  tears  of  joy,  fixed  on  those  shining  heights. 
"But  from  my  home  those  mountains  are  visible. 
To-morrow  night  I  shall  sleep  under  my  own  blessed 
roof!" 

The  door  of  the  house  stood  open,  but  no  one 
appeared  in  it.  At  some  distance  were  several 
persons,  men  and  women,  gathering  oranges.  They 
paused  to  look  at  the  travelers,  but  made  no  move- 
ment to  approach  them. 

"We  do  not  need  any  one,"  Elena  said.  "You 
shall  go  directly  to  your  chamber;  and  after  sup- 
per you  shall  sleep." 

They  entered  a  vestibule  from  which  a  stair  as- 
cended.    The  inner  doors  were  closed.    They  went 


SAN  SALVADOR.  57 

up  to  a  pleasant  chamber  that  looked  toward  the 
mountains  and  the  south.  At  their  left,  toward 
the  east,  twilight  had  already  come  under  the 
shadow  of  those  heights  and  the  pines  beneath. 
But  shafts  of  red  gold  still  shot  over  their  heads 
from  the  west,  and  all  the  shadows  had  a  tinge  of 
gold.  An  orange-tree  that  grew  beneath  their  win- 
dow lifted  a  crowded  cluster  of  ripe  fruit  above  the 
sill,  as  if  offering  it  to  the  travelers. 

"Thank  you!"  Tacita  said,  and  detached  one 
from  the  bunch  where  they  grew  so  close  that  each 
one  had  a  facet  on  its  side. 

Elena,  who  seemed  to  feel  perfectly  at  home,  left 
her  resting  and  went  down  stairs  for  their  supper. 
She  had  made  no  mistake  in  saying  that  it  would 
be  a  good  supper.  An  hour  later,  the  shadows 
had  lost  their  gold,  and  Tacita  was  asleep. 

How  sweet  is  the  deep  sleep  of  weariness  that 
hopes  and  trusts  !  It  is  not  alone  that  every  nerve 
and  muscle  lets  slip  a  burden,  that  the  heart  gives 
a  thankful  sigh,  and  the  busy  brain  grows  quiet. 
The  pleasure  is  more  than  negative.  Such  sleep 
comes  as  the  tide  comes  in  calm  weather.  Trans- 
parent, yet  tangible,  it  steals  over  the  tired  senses, 
its  crest  a  whispered  lullaby.  Deeper,  then,  smooth- 
ing out  the  creases  of  life  with  a  down-like  touch. 
Yet  deeper,  and  a  full  swell  submerges  the  con- 
sciousness, and  you  lie  quiescent  at  the  bottom  of 
an  enchanted  sea. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

"Are  you  prepared  for  mountain  climbing?" 
Elena  asked  the  next  morning  when  Tacita  woke. 

"I  am  prepared  for  anything!  I  have  had  such 
a  refreshing  sleep!     How  long  has  it  been?  " 

"Nearly  twelve  hours,  my  dear.  Your  ancestors 
must  have  come  from  Ephesus.  I  thought  that  I 
knew  how  to  sleep ;  but  the  singleness  of  purpose 
with  which  you  lay  yourself  away  is  something  en- 
tirely your  own.  It  is  a  gift.  It  arrives  at  genius. 
Now,  who  do  you  think  that  I  can  see  coming  over 
a  rocky  path  above  the  olives?  " 

"Can'itbeDylar?" 

"It  is  Dylar.  He  will  be  here  in  fifteen  min- 
utes." 

The  people  of  the  house  paid  as  little  attention 
to  their  guests  in  the  morning  as  they  had  the 
evening  before.  Elena  brought  the  breakfast, 
if  she  did  not  prepare  it.  Probably  they  were 
all  out  picking  oranges.  Children  were  visible 
at  a  distance  gathering  the  fruit  up  from  under 
the  trees.  The  orchard  was  a  good  many  acres  in 
extent. 

When  Tacita,  prepared  for  her  journey,  went 
(fown  to  the  door,  their  driver  of  the  day  before 
stood  there  with  two  donkeys  girded  with  chair- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  59 

shaped  saddles,  with  high  backs  and  foot-rests. 
Not  far  away  there  was  another  donkey.  Beside 
it  stood  a  man  who  uncovered  his  head,  and  looked 
with  an  eager  smile  at  the  young  traveler  when  she 
appeared. 

"He  is  one  of  my  people,"  Elena  said.  "I  have 
been  talking  with  him.  You  should  salute  him  in 
this  way,"  lifting  her  hand  above  her  face. 

Tacita  imitated  her  with  a  smiling  glance  toward 
the  guide,  who  responded. 

Away  under  the  trees  talking  with  the  farmers 
was  a  third  man,  who  as  soon  as  Tacita  appeared, 
came  to  meet  her. 

It  was  Dylar ;  but  Dylar  in  a  conventional  dress 
such  as  any  gentleman  might  wear  in  traveling ;  and 
with  the  dress,  he  had  assumed  something  of  the 
conventional  manner.  Had  he  lost  by  the  change? 
she  asked  herself,  while  he  made  courteous  inqui- 
ries, and  looked  to  see  if  her  saddle  was  firm.  No : 
the  face  was  the  same,  and  could  easily  make  one 
forget  the  costume ;  and  there  was  sincerity  in  the 
tone  of  his  inquiries. 

"We  cross  this  angle  of  the  mountains,  and  go 
back  almost  in  the  direction  from  which  you  came 
yesterday,"  Dylar  said.  "I  am  sorry  that  it  was 
necessary  to  take  you  by  the  longer  way.  Late  in 
the  afternoon  we  shall  reach  a  house  where  you 
and  Elena  will  sleep.  It  is  a  solitary  place,  but 
more  comfortable  than  it  looks  at  first  sight,  and 
it  is  quite  safe.  To-morrow  you  will  have  but 
three  hours'  ride." 


GO  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Tliey  mounted,  and  took  the  i3ath  that  led  back- 
ward over  the  heights.  They  rode  singly,  Elena 
with  her  guide  leading.  Tacita  followed  with  a 
man  at  her  bridle,  and  Dylar  came  last. 

The  air  o-rew  cooler  and  finer.  It  was  the  air 
that  makes  one  wish  to  dance. 

Tacita  asked  herself  what  it  could  be  in  all  these 
faces,  —  Dylar's,  Elena's,  the  two  guides',  yes, 
and  in  her  own  mother's  and  grandfather's,  — 
which  made  them  resemble  each  other  in  spite  of 
different  features  and  characters.  It  was  a  spir- 
itual family  resemblance.  Ingenuous  was  not  the 
word.  It  was  not  dignity  alone.  Strong  and  gen- 
tle did  not  describe  it.  It  was  the  expression  of  a 
certain  harmonious  poise  and  elastic  firmness  of 
mind  indicating  that  each  one  had  found  his 
proper  place,  and  was  content  with  it ;  indicating, 
too,  a  mutual  complaisance,  but  a  supreme  depen- 
dence on  something  higher. 

Their  way  led  deeper  into  the  mountains.  Now 
and  then,  in  turnings  of  the  path,  Tacita  lost  sight 
of  her  companions.  She  looked  backward  once  for 
Dylar.  When  he  appeared,  he  smiled  and  waved 
his  hand  to  her  encouragingly. 

"He  smiled  !  "  she  whispered  to  herself,  but  did 
not  look  back  again. 

The  sky  was  blue  and  cloudless,  and  pulsed  with 
its  fullness  of  light.  Somewhere,  not  far  away, 
there  was  a  waterfall.  Its  infant  thunder  and  lisp- 
ing splash  pervaded  the  air.  The  scene  grew  more 
grand  and  terrible.     One  moment  they  would  be 


SAN  SALVADOR.  61 

shut  into  a  narrow  space  from  which  exit  seemed 
impossible,  dark  stone  grinding  close  without  a 
sign  of  pathway ;  then  the  solid  walls  were  cleft  as 
in  an  instant.  In  the  near  deeps  lurked  a  delicate 
shadow ;  far  below  was  revealed  from  time  to  time 
a  velvety  darkness. 

Tacita's  mind,  floating  between  present  content- 
ment, a  half -forgotten  pain,  and  a  mystical  antici- 
pation, confused  the  scene  about  her  with  others 
far  away.  Clustered  windows,  crowded  sculptures 
and  balconies,  seemed  to  emboss  the  cliffs  at  either 
hand,  or  float  in  misty  lines  along  their  surfaces. 
The  sound  of  the  haunting  cascade  became  the  dip 
of  oars,  or  the  swash  of  the  lagoon  ploughed  by  a 
steamboat.  She  saw  their  time-stained  old  Vene- 
tian house ;  and  the  last  scenes  she  had  witnessed 
there  rose  before  her.  A  wreath  of  mist  that  had 
risen  from  some  invisible  stream  and  paused  among 
the  rocks  recalled  a  narrow  bed  with  a  white- 
haired  old  man  lying  on  it,  peaceful  and  dead. 
The  hymn  sung  as  he  died  seemed  only  that  mo- 
ment to  have  ceased  on  the  air.  Why  had  it 
sounded  familiar  ?  Perhaps  it  might  have  a  phrase 
in  common  with  some  song  she  knew\  How  did  it 
go?  She  hummed  softly,  feeling  for  the  tune, 
found  a  bar  or  two,  and  sang  in  a  low  voice. 

To  her  astonishment,  her  guide  at  once  took  up 
the  strain,  and  from  him  Elena  and  her  guide,  and 
then  Dylar.     They  sang :  — 

"  San  Salvador,  San  Salvador, 
We  live  in  thee  ! 


62  SAN  SALVADOR. 

'Tis  love  that  holds  the  threads  of  fate ; 
Death  's  but  the  opening-  of  a  gate, 
The  parting  of  a  mist  that  dims  the  sky. 
We  live  in  thee  !   We  live  in  thee ! 
San  Salvador, 
We  live  in  thee  !  " 

Taeita  held  her  breath  to  listen.  Was  she  in- 
deed riding  through  mountain  paths  and  morning 
air,  or  lying  in  a  dream  in  some  strange  land? 
Dylar's  was  the  voice  that  had  sung  beneath  their 
window  when  her  grandfather  was  dying ! 

The  way  grew  wilder.  The  rocks  were  black 
and  frowning.  Sometimes  their  path  was  but  a  nar- 
row shelf  along  the  face  of  a  precipice.  Once  the 
guide  made  her  descend,  and  fastened  a  rope  from 
iron  hook  to  hook  set  in  the  rock  for  her  to  hold  in 
passing. 

At  noon  they  reached  a  little  plateau,  —  a  few 
feet  of  short  turf,  some  tiny  vines  and  spotted 
lichens,  arid  a  blue  flower,  all  of  which  seemed  mir- 
acles in  that  place.  Here  they  dismounted  and  ate 
their  luncheon. 

"  What  a  wonder  a  flower  would  be,  if  there  were 
only  one  in  the  world  I  "  Dylar  said,  seeing  Taeita 
bend  over  this. 

She  smiled,  and  continued  to  examine  it  care- 
fully, without  touching.  It  seemed  something  sa- 
cred. Who  drew  the  little  lines  on  its  petals,  and 
scattered  the  gold  dust  in  its  heart,  and  gave  it  all 
that  seeming  of  innocent  faith  and  courage?  The 
grass-blades,  too,  with  their  fine  serrated  edges, 
and  sharp  points  thrust  upward,  then  curving  over, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  63 

as  if  they  were  spears  changing  to  pruning-hooks, 
—  what  beautiful  things  they  were  when  there  were 
but  few ! 

Dylar  and  Elena  talked  with  their  guides  in  a 
language  that  she  had  never  heard  before,  yet 
which  she  could  almost  understand. 

It  was  a  clear-sounding  and  sonorous  language, 
with  a  good  deal  of  accent,  and  it  almost  sang. 

"You  will  soon  learn  it,"  Elena  said.  "It  is 
the  flower  of  all  languages,  not  yet  rich,  but 
pure." 

They  mounted,  and  pursued  their  way.  After 
some  hours  the  j)ath  began  to  broaden  and  descend. 
They  entered  a  pine  wood,  and  the  sun  deserted 
them,  showing  only  on  the  tops  of  the  highest  trees. 
The  way  was  dim  and  fragrant,  long  brown  aisles 
of  gloom  stretched  away  at  their  left.  But  only  a 
fringe  of  trees  stood  between  them  and  the  crags  at 
their  right. 

The  path  turned  with  a  long  curve,  and  they 
were  at  the  door  of  a  dark  old  house,  built  of  rough 
stones,  and  set  against  a  cliff.  Opposite  the  door 
a  road  went  down  into  the  pines,  and  disappeared. 
The  road  by  which  they  had  come  continued  past 
the  door,  descended  gently,  and  disappeared  around 
the  cliffs. 

The  house  had  a  sinister,  deserted  look.  The 
door  was  off  the  hinges,  and  set  against  an  inner 
wall.  The  rude  shutters  of  an  upper  window  hung 
half  open.  Where  the  masonry  of  the  house  ended 
and  the  natural  rock  began  was  not  apparent.     Na- 


64  SAN  SALVADOR. 

tnre  had   adopted  the  rough  stones,  and  set  her 
lichens  and  grasses  in  their  interstices. 

A  rivulet  fell  from  the  heights  into  a  trough  near 
the  door,  twisting  itself  as  it  fell,  and  braiding  in 
strands  of  light.  From  the  trough  the  water 
overflowed,  and  followed  the  road. 

"It  is  not  so  bad  as  it  looks,"  Elena  said. 

Dylar  came  to  assist  Tacita.  "I  think  that  you 
will  be  able  to  rest  well  here,  unpromising  as  it 
looks,"  he  said.  "Do  not  be  anxious.  You  will 
be  well  guarded.  And  to-morrow  your  journey 
will  come  to  an  end." 

As  they  entered  the  house,  a  man  came  hasten- 
ing down  the  stairs.  He  saluted  Dylar  with  rever- 
ence and  Elena  with  delight.  They  spoke  together 
in  the  language  the  guides  had  used.  The  man 
bowed  lowly  before  Tacita,  and  smiled  a  welcome. 

The  room  had  no  door  but  that  by  which  they 
had  entered,  and  no  furniture  but  a  rough  bench 
and  table.  There  was  a  cavernous  chimney.  The 
floor  was  strown  all  about  with  twigs  and  pine 
needles. 

One  of  the  guides  brought  in  some  boughs,  and 
kindled  a  fire  on  the  hearth. 

Dylar  took  leave  of  Tacita,  and  pursued  his  way 
down  the  carriage-road  leading  by  the  rocks.  In 
parting  he  said,  — 

"After  to-morrow  I  will  see  you,  if  the  King 
wills." 

A  stair  led  directly  from  the  room  to  a  landing. 
Two    doors   opened    on    this    landing.     One    was 


SAN  SALVADOR.  65 

closed.  The  other  stood  wide  open  into  a  chamber 
that  was  in  pleasant  contrast  with  the  room  below. 
A  wide  white  bed,  a  deep  sofa,  a  commode  and 
mirror,  a  table  set  with  covers  for  two  drawn  up 
before  the  sofa,  and  a  second  table  holding  roasted 
fowl,  salad,  wine,  and  fruit  promised  every  neces- 
sary comfort.  The  room  was  rough  but  clean. 
A  gray  muslin  curtain  was  drawn  back  from  one 
side  of  the  window,  and  there  was  a  glazed  sash  in 
a  sliding  frame  at  the  other. 

"Isn't  it  cosy!"  said  Elena,  who  seemed  to  be 
overflowing  with  joy  at  finding  herself  so  near 
home.  "Now,  lie  down  on  the  sofa,  dear,  and  you 
shall  have  some  soup  as  soon  as  it  is  hot.  We 
shall  fare  well.  Our  supper  has  been  prepared  by 
the  housekeeper  at  the  castle,  and  sent  in  good 
order." 

"I  must  not  ask  what  castle?"  Tacita  said. 

"Why,  Castle  Dylar,  of  course!"  Elena  said, 
and  went  down  stairs  for  the  soup. 

There  was  a  sound  from  below  of  the  door  being 
set  on  its  hinges  and  barred,  and  the  shutters  were 
closed. 

"The  guides  will  sleep  below,"  Elena  said. 

"Elena,"  said  Tacita,  "what  did  Dylar  mean 
when  he  said  '  if  the  King  wills  ? '  Who  is  the 
king?" 

"Christ  Jesus,"  replied  Elena,  bowing  her  head. 

""^  Evviva  Gesu!^^  exclaimed  the  girl  with  pleas- 
ant surprise.  "And  is  Dylar  the  master  of  Castle 
Dylar?" 


66  SAN  SALVADOR. 

''He  is  sole  master!  " 

"Am  I  allowed  to  ask  if  he  has  any  title  of  no- 
bility?" 

"He  is  a  prince,"  said  Elena. 

She  asked  no  more. 

Later,  when  half  asleep,  she  became  aware  of 
strange  sounds  from  below,  as  of  a  heavy  weight 
falling,  and  grating  hinges. 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  Elena  said.  "The  men  are 
putting  the  donkeys  in  their  stable.  And  our 
chamber  door  is  strongly  barred." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

The  sun  was  high  when  Tacita  woke  the  next 
morning.  The  chamber  door  was  open,  and  an 
odor  of  coffee  came  up  the  stair.  The  window  sash 
and  curtain  had  been  drawn  back,  admitting  the 
pine-scented  air  and  a  rain  of  sunshine  that  fell 
over  everything  in  large  golden  drops. 

It  was  late.  ''But  that  does  not  matter,"  Elena 
said,  coming  up  with  the  coffee.  "We  could  not 
have  started  sooner.  My  brother  had  to  come  for 
us;  and  it  takes  three  hours.  There  were  other 
things  to  do  besides.  And  when  they  were  all  done, 
we  talked  over  the  incidents  of  a  five  years'  sepa- 
ration.    How  glad  I  was  to  see  him  I  " 

Tears  were  shining  in  her  eyes.  ""There  is  no 
haste.  My  brother  has  to  prepare  some  things. 
We  go  by  an  inner  path,  not  the  one  Dylar  took. 
We  travel  in  a  southwesterly  direction  across  the 
mountains ;  and  you  will  reach  your  chamber  long 
before  sunset.  I  have  thought  that  you  would  not 
care  to  see  any  strangers  to-night.  Am  I  right? 
Well,  now  we  will  go  down.  But  first,  I  have  a 
word  to  say  to  you." 

There  was  somethins;  in  her  face  that  arrested 
attention,  an  excitement  that  was  almost  a  trem- 
bling.     "Tacita,  do  you   remember  all  that  your 


68  SAN  SALVADOR. 

mother  and  grandfather  told  you,  which  you  re- 
fused to  repeat  to  me  ?  " 

Tacita  made  no  reply  in  words.  Already  she 
divined. 

The  nurse  leaned  to  whisper  a  word  in  her  ear, 
and  give  her  a  sign. 

Tacita  looked  at  her  with  a  mild  surprise. 

The  nurse  went  to  look  out  the  window,  and  re- 
turning, repeated  her  pantomime  and  whisper. 

"Well?  "  said  Tacita  wonderingly. 

"Dylar  reproved  me  for  having  tried  you  in 
Seville,"  the  nurse  said,  and  again  repeated  the 
whisper  and  the  touch. 

"I  might  have  known  I"  Tacita  exclaimed  joy- 
ously, embracing  her.  "I  did  almost  know.  It  is 
all  that  was  needed  to  make  me  perfectly  happy  ! 
And  now,  let  us  start  for  home.  At  last  I  can 
call  it  home !  '  By  the  side  of  a  rock, '  my  mother 
said." 

They  went  down  stairs.  There  was  no  one  vis- 
ible, and  the  door  was  still  barred.  Elena  led  her 
companion  into  the  niche  under  the  stair,  and 
tapped  on  the  stone  wall.  Immediately,  as  though 
her  light  touch  had  pushed  it,  a  part  of  the  wall 
receded  a  few  inches,  was  lifted  a  few  inches,  and 
swung  slowly  backward.  It  was  a  door  of  small 
stones  set  in  a  plank  frame,  the  irregular  edges 
fitting  perfectly  into  the  masonry  about  them.  A 
narrow,  dim  passage  was  visible,  leading  down- 
wards. 

They  descended,  hand  in  hand,  passing  by  a  man 


SAN  SALVADOR.  69 

who  stood  there  in  the  shadow;  and  the  door  Avas 
closed  and  barred  behind  them.  It  was  hung  on 
iron  hooks  that  were  round  at  the  top,  and  square 
below.  When  the  bars  were  removed,  and  the 
door  freed  from  the  wall,  a  pulley  lifted  it  from  the 
square  to  the  round  iron  on  which  it  swung. 

The  incline  led  to  a  small  cave,  scarcely  larger 
than  the  room  above.  It  was  all  open  to  the  west, 
and  an  abyss  separated  it  from  a  precipice,  leaving 
only  a  narrow  shelf  of  rock  outside  the  cave's 
mouth.  Beside  this  shelf,  no  other  egress  was  vis- 
ible. 

The  place  showed  signs  of  having  been  recently 
used  as  a  stable.  For  the  rest,  it  might  not  have 
been  visited  for  years.  There  was  an  old  chest 
with  rusty  hinges,  an  old  box  full  of  j^ine-needles, 
and  some  discolored  blocks  of  wood  that  might  have 
served  as  seats. 

"It  is  Arone,  my  brother  !  "  said  Elena,  when  the 
man  came  down  to  them  after  fastening  the  door. 

He  had  a  sunny  face,  and  he  resembled  his  sister 
so  closely  that  an  introduction  was  scarcely  neces- 
sary. His  dress  set  off  a  fine  manly  figure.  It 
was  a  gray  cloth  tunic  reaching  to  the  knees,  and 
girded  with  a  dark  blue  fringed  sash.  Long  gray 
stockings  and  a  gray  turban-shaped  cap  with  a  blue 
band  completed  his  costume.  The  band  of  the  cap 
was  closed  over  the  left  ear  with  a  small  silver 
hand. 

>    The  shelf  of  rock  proved  to  be  their  path.     Hold- 
ing by  a  rope  fixed  in  iron  hooks,  they  followed  its 


70  SAN  SALVADOR. 

curve  to  a  small  platform  of  rock.  From  this,  a 
bridge  of  two  planks,  over  whifh  the  rope  was  con- 
tinued, crossed  the  chasm  to  a  second  shelf.  This 
was  more  dangerous  than  the  first ;  for  it  was  wet, 
and  the  sheer  rock  it  followed  was  dripping.  Be- 
yond, in  a  wider  path,  were  their  guides  of  the  day 
before,  and  the  donkeys. 

Holding  the  rope,  Tacita  passed  the  w^et  rock, 
not  daring  to  look  downward,  and  was  received  by 
her  companions  with  a  "Brava!  " 

The  worst  Avas  over.  She  sat  down  to  get  her 
breath,  and  Arone  returned  to  remove  the  roj^es 
and  plank. 

"You  are  going  to  see,  in  a  little  while,  why  our 
path  is  wet,"  Elena  said.  "Meantime,  look  about 
you.  Do  you  see  that  window?  "  pointing  to  a  fis- 
sure in  the  rock  above  the  cave.  Koj^es  extended 
from  this  point  to  another  not  visible  to  them,  but 
in  the  direction  of  their  pathway.  "The  closed 
door  you  saw  next  to  our  chamber  leads  to  that 
room,  and  those  ropes  carry  signals  to  a  station 
that  is  visible  to  a  second  station  farther  on.  From 
there  they  are  repeated  to  a  third,  and  that  third 
station  we  see  at  home.  Anything  that  takes  place 
here  can  be  known  there  in  a  few  minutes.  They 
must  know  already  that  we  have  passed  the  bridge. 
The  house  is  not  such  a  ruin  as  it  appears,  nor  so 
far  away  from  everybody.  There  are  several  de- 
cent rooms  above ;  and  it  is  only  five  miles  round 
by  the  road  to  Castle  Dylar.  There  are  always  tw^o 
persons  in  the  house  as  guard ;  and  they  are  changed 


SAN  SALVADOH.  71 

every  week.  From  an  upper  window,  like  this, 
hidden  behind  a  fissure  in  the  rock,  all  t^e  roads 
outside  are  visible.  There  are  tubes  leading  to  the 
lower  room  through  which  the  guard  can  converse, 
or  listen." 

Tacita  did  not  reply.  She  disliked  mysteries, 
having  had  reason  to  mistrust  them. 

"We  have  no  more  secrets  than  we  must,  dear," 
her  friend  said,  perceiving  the  signs  of  distaste. 
"All  that  you  have  seen  is  necessary  for  the  pro- 
tection of  good  people  who  have  not  strength  to  de- 
fend themselves,  and  would  not  wish  to  use  force, 
if  they  could." 

Arone,  who  had  come  back  to  them,  looked  at 
the  window  over  the  cave,  and  blew  a  whistle.  In- 
stantly, a  bunch  of  long,  colored  streamers  ran 
along  one  of  the  ropes,  and  disappeared.  While 
they  waited,  Elena  gave  her  charge  a  first  lesson  in 
her  mother's  native  language,  telling  the  names  of 
their  glides,  their  animals,  the  rocks,  lichens,  and 
the  sky,  with  its  light  and  sources  of  light.  Then, 
pausing,  she  raised  her  hand,  and  listened.  There 
was  a  stir,  faint  and  far  away,  but  coming  nearer. 
It  became  a  rushing  sound,  and  a  sound  of  waters. 
A  huge  white  feather  showed  above  the  wet  rock 
underneath  which  they  had  passed,  and  a  foaming 
torrent  leaped  over  its  brink,  plunged  with  a  sharp 
stroke  to  the  shelf,  and  fell  into  the  abyss.  Their 
whole  path  from  the  cave's  mouth  to  within  a  few 
feet  of  where  they  stood  was  covered  with  the  wild 
rush  of  a  mountain  torrent. 


72  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"That  is  our  beautiful  gate,"  Elena  said.  "It 
needs  ncf  bolt.  Now  we  will  go.  From  here  the 
way  is  all  i^lain." 

They  rode  for  two  hours  over  a  hard  mountain 
path,  where  nothing  but  dark  rocks,  pine-trees, 
and  snow  was  visible.  Then  through  a  gap  in  the 
mountains  an  exquisite  picture  was  seen,  lower 
down,  and  not  so  far  away  but  its  features  could  be 
examined.  There  was  a  green  hill  with  sheep  and 
lambs,  and  a  little  cottage.  Outside  the  door,  un- 
der the  shadow  of  an  awning,  sat  a  man  and  woman. 
The  man  was  carving  pieces  of  wood  on  a  table  be- 
fore him;  the  woman  had  some  work  on  her  lap 
which  kept  her  hands  in  constant  motion.  A 
young  girl  came  out  of  the  cottage  and  brought  her 
mother  something  which  they  examined  closely  to- 
g3ther.  They  were  all  dressed  in  gray  with  bright 
girdles. 

"The  man  carves  little  olive-wood  boxes  and 
bowls,"  Elena  said.  "The  woman  and  her  daugh- 
ter make  pillow-lace.  The  girl  is  our  very  best 
lace-maker.  Her  work  brings  a  high  price  when 
we  send  it  out." 

The  three  continued  tranquilly  their  occupations, 
unconscious  of  being  observed;  and  an  interposing 
mountain  slope  soon  hid  them  from  sight. 

Tacita  began  to  feel  that  she  had  rested  but  su- 
perficially the  two  past  nights.  She  scarcely  cared 
to  look  at  the  changing  views  where  distant  snow- 
peaks  and  occasional  airy  distances  seemed  to  inti- 
mate that  before  long  they  might  emerge  from  their 
mountain  prison. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  73 

The  path  descended  gradually  ;  there  were 
glimpses  of  pine-groves  and  olives.  Suddenly  they 
made  a  sharj)  turn,  and  entered  a  cave  much  like 
that  they  had  started  from. 

"At  last!"  exclaimed  Elena,  and  slipped  from 
her  saddle. 

From  the  cave  they  went  into  a  long  corridor 
that  led  them  to  an  ante-room  with  a  curtained 
glass  door  at  each  of  the  four  sides.  There  was  no 
window.  One  of  the  doors  stood  open  into  a  charm- 
ing bed-chamber. 

The  one  large  window  of  this  chamber  was  cov- 
ered with  a  curtain  of  white  linen  in  closely  crowded 
flutings  that  shone  with  a  reflected  sunshine.  The 
color  of  all  the  room  was  a  delicate  gray,  with 
touches  of  gilding  everywhere.  They  glimmered 
in  a  broad  band  of  arabesques  that  ran  round  the 
walls  at  middle  height;  on  a  bronze  vase  with  its 
long  slender  pen-sweep  of  a  handle ;  on  the  lance- 
ends  of  the  curtain -rod ;  on  the  railing  around  three 
sides  of  a  little  table  that  held  a  candlestick,  bottle, 
and  glass  at  the  bedside.  There  was  a  glistening 
of  gold  all  through  the  light  shadow-tint. 

"  Welcome  !  A  thousand  welcomes  to  San  Sal- 
vador!"  exclaimed  Elena,  leading  Tacita  into  the 
chamber  and  embracing  her  with  fervor.  "May 
all  happiness  and  peace  attend  you  here;  and  may 
the  place  be  to  you  the  gate  of  heaven !  " 

"And  now,  dear,  your  fatigues  are  all  over,"  she 
added.      "You  are  at  home  !  " 

"San  Salvador!  "  repeated  Tacita,  looking  about 
her. 


74  SAN  SALVADOR. 

'*Do  you  wish  to  see  and  know  more  now,  at 
once?  "  the  nurse  asked  smilingly.  "There  are  no 
more  secrets  for  you." 

"  Oh,  no !  Just  now  I  appreciate  too  well  our 
Italian  proverb:  'The  bed  is  a  rose.'  And  that 
sofa  seems  to  speak."  She  went  to  sink  on  to  its 
soft  cushions.      "Go  to  your  friends,  Elena." 

"Presently.  You  must  first  be  attended  to. 
There  is  a  woman  here  who  will  serve  you  in  every- 
thing. She  speaks  French,  and  her  name  is  Marie. 
What  are  your  orders?  " 

"My  wish  is  to  rest  on  this  motherly  sofa  an 
hour  or  two,  without  having  to  utter  a  word. 
Then  I  would  like  a  little  quiet  dinner,  all  alone, 
after  which  I  will  go  to  bed  and  sleep  as  long  as 
nature  wills.  Those  are  my  wishes.  My  sole 
command  is  that  you  go  to  your  friends  at  once, 
and  do  not  return  to  me  till  to-morrow  morning. 
My  poor,  dear  Elena !  What  a  care  I  have  been 
to  you!  Now  let  me  see  you  take  some  care  of 
yourself.     I  have  all  that  I  want." 

The  woman,  Marie,  appeared  with  a  cup  of  broth 
on  a  tray.  From  her  glad  excitement,  the  tray 
trembled  in  her  hands. 

"Oh,  welcome  home,  Elena!"  she  exclaimed. 
"Welcome  to  San  Salvador,  Tacita  Mora!  You 
are  a  thousand  times  welcome!  May  the  place  be 
to  you  the  gate  of  heaven!       I  am  so  glad!  " 

She  set  the  tray  before  Tacita,  but  could  spare 
her  only  a  glance  as  she  uttered  her  hasty  and 
tremulous    w^elcome.     Then    she   ran   to   embrace 


SAN  SALVADOR.  75 

Elena.  "  Oh,  welcome !  welcome !  You  are  look- 
ing so  well.  You  come  laden  with  good  news. 
Stay  with  us !  We  will  not  let  you  go  again.  We 
will  give  the  moon  in  exchange  for  you !  " 

"Oh,  I  should  miss  the  moon,"  Elena  said  laugh- 
ingly. 

After  a  little  while  they  went  out  together,  leav- 
ing Tacita  to  rest. 

"What,  then,  is  San  Salvador?"  she  wondered, 
sinking  among  the  sofa-pillows. 

Perhaps  she  might  learn  by  lifting  that  sun- 
lighted  curtain.  But  she  did  not  wish  to  lift  it. 
There  was  pleasure  in  tasting  slowly  the  unfolding 
mystery.  So  far,  each  revelation  had  been  brighter 
than  the  preceding.  She  slept  content,  and  waked 
to  see  on  the  curtain  the  deep  hue  of  sunset. 

For  a  little  while  she  lay  looking  about  her,  re- 
collecting herself,  and  examining  her  surroundings. 
The  floor  was  of  yellow  tiles,  all  the  furniture  and 
bed-covers  were  of  pale  gray  linen  as  glossy  as 
satin,  the  wicker  chairs  were  graceful  in  shape,  and 
the  tables  gave  a  restful  idea  of  what  tables  are 
meant  for,  undefeated  by  sprawling  legs  and  im- 
pertinent corner  -  twiddlings.  They  were  of  fine 
solid  wood,  dignified  and  useful,  and  set  squarely 
on  strong  legs. 

Glancing  at  the  band  of  arabesques  around  the 
walls,  Tacita  perceived  that  it  had  a  meaning.  It 
was  all  letters  —  but  letters  run  to  flower  or  to 
animal  life.  They  budded,  they  ended  in  tendrils, 
they  were  birds  and  insects,  but  always  letters ;  and 


76  SAN  SALVADOE. 

as  she  studied  them,  they  became  letters  that  made 
words  in  all  the  languages  that  she  knew;  and 
doubtless  those  which  she  could  not  decipher  were 
words  of  languages  unknown  to  her.  And  of  all 
those  which  she  could  read,  every  one  repeated  the 
same  words,  over  and  over,  whole,  or  in  fragments, 
each  phrase  held  up  as  a  honey-dropping  flower : 

He  shall  feed  his  Jlock  like  a  shej^herd ;  and 
sorrow  and  mourning  shall  flee  aioay. 

It  was  set  down  in  clear  text.  Then  a  bird  flew 
with  a  part  of  it  in  his  beak.  Lihe  a  shepherd^ 
Like  a  shepherd.  And  the  word  shepherd  stood 
alone,  all  bloomed  out  with  little  golden  lilies. 
Dragon-flies  and  butterflies  bore  the  promise  on 
their  wings;  and  where  it  bore  roses,  every  rose 
had  a  hunnning-bird  or  bee  sucking  its  sweetness 
out.  The  quick  squirrel  ran  with  what  seemed  a 
vine  hanging  from  his  upturned  mouth;  and  the 
vine  was  a  promise. 

It  was  the  Moorish  idea.  She  had  seen  amonsT 
their  arabesques  the  motto  of  Ibn-1-ahmar:  "There 
is  no  conqueror  but  God,"  so  interwoven  with  or- 
namentation. But  that  solemn  Moorish  reverence 
and  piety  did  not  touch  the  heart  like  this  consol- 
ing tenderness. 

Dinner  was  served  on  a  table  set  before  the  win- 
dow. It  was  a  charming  little  dinner :  a  shaving 
of  broiled  ham ;  a  miraculous  soup ;  a  bit  of  fish  in 
a  shell ;  a  few  ribs,  crisp  and  tender,  of  roasted  kid ; 
rice  in  large  white  kernels ;  an  exquisite  salad  of 
some  tender  herbs  with  lemon  juice  and  oil  that  was 


SAN  SALVADOR.  77 

like  honey ;  a  conserve  of  orange-blossoms,  rich  and 
thick ;  a  tiny  flask  of  reel  wine  from  which  all  acrid 
taste  of  seed  and  stem  had  been  excluded;  and 
lastly,  a  sip  or  two  of  coffee  which  defied  criticism. 

Evidently  the  cook  of  San  Salvador  was  nothing 
less  than  a  cordon-bleu. 

The  dinner  done  a  healthy  justice  to,  and  praised, 
Tacita  was  once  more  left  to  herself.  But  first 
Marie  brought  a  vase  of  olive  oil  and  water  with  a 
floating  flame,  and  set  it  in  a  little  glazed  niche  in 
the  wall  that  had  its  own  pipe-stem  of  a  chimney; 
and  she  drew  back  the  window-curtain.  The  lower 
part  of  it  had  lost  the  sun ;  but  a  bar  of  orange 
light  crossed  the  top. 

Tacita  waited  till  the  door  closed,  then  looked 
out  eagerly. 

There  were  still  mountains  in  a  rus^fred  masfnifi- 
cence  of  mass  and  outline ;  but  the  color  left  no 
room  for  disappointment.  They  faced  the  west 
with  the  kindled  torch  of  a  snow  peak  above  a  tu- 
mult of  gold  and  purple  and  deep -red.  There 
were  pines  along  the  lower  heights,  and  olives,  and, 
lower  still,  fruit-trees.  A  rock  protruding  close  to 
either  side  of  the  window  narrowed  the  lower  view. 
But  only  a  few  rods  distant,  a  wedge  of  smooth 
green  turf  was  visible,  with  a  crowd  of  gayly- 
dressed  children  playing  on  it,  tossing  grace-hoops, 
chasing  each  other,  and  dancing. 

Presently  the  air  was  filled  with  a  sweet,  tinkling 
music.  The  children  ceased  their  play  at  the 
sound,  and  formed  themselves  in  procession,  with 


78  SAN  SALVADOR. 

subsiding  kitten-like  skips,  and  passed  along  the 
green,  and  out  of  sight. 

As  she  watched  thetn,  it  occurred  to  Tacita  for 
the  first  time  to  think  that  youth  is  beautiful.  It 
is  a  thought  that  seldom  occurs  to  the  young,  youth 
being  a  gift  that  is  gone  as  soon  as  recognized. 
Her  aching  languor  and  weariness  taught  her  the 
value  of  that  elastic  activity,  and  her  sorrow  sug- 
gested the  charm  of  that  unclouded  gayety.  Yes, 
it  is  beautiful,  she  thought,  that  evanescent  blush 
of  life's  morning  forever  hovering  about  the  sterner 
facts  of  human  existence. 

She  sat  and  looked  out  till  the  color  faded  from 
the  heights,  leaving  only  a  spot  of  gold  aloft ;  and, 
thinking  that  she  must  not  go  to  sleep  in  her  chair, 
fell  sound  asleep  in  it. 

It  was  about  midnight  when  she  waked,  and  with 
so  vivid  an  awakening  that  to  sleep  longer  seemed 
impossible.  In  place  of  the  languid  quiescence  of 
the  evening  before,  there  was  a  consuming  impa- 
tience to  know  all  without  an  hour's  delay.  Close 
to  her  was  the  unsolved  mystery  of  her  mother's 
birth  and  of  her  own  fate.  She  coidd  wait  no 
longer. 

She  lighted  her  candle,  and  went  softly  out  into 
the  ante-room.  All  was  still.  She  tried  the  door 
opposite  her  own.  It  opened  on  a  broad  stair  that 
descended  between  two  blank  walls. 

Closing  the  door  noiselessly  behind  her,  she  went 
down,  candle  in  hand,  and  reached  a  corridor  and 
a  second  stair.     Across   the  foot  of   this   second 


SAN  SALVADOR.  79 

stair  shone  a  soft  light.  It  was  the  same  light  that 
shone  outside  her  window  above,  —  a  passing  moon- 
light that  had  gathered  to  itself  all  the  starbeams 
in  the  air  and  all  the  frosty  reflections  of  its  own 
crescent  splendor  from  snow-clad  heights  and  icy 
peaks,  and  fused  them  in  a  lambent  silver. 

Tacita  set  her  candle  on  the  stair,  and  went  dowTi 
into  a  long  hall,  of  which  the  whole  outer  side  was 
an  arcade,  and  beyond  the  arcade  was  a  piazza 
open  to  the  night,  and  with  a  wide  space  beyond 
its  parapet.  As  in  a  dream,  she  passed  the  arcade ; 
and  before  her  lay  San  Salvador,  the  city  of  the 
Holy  King! 


CHAPTER   IX. 

San  Salvador  was  built  on  a  plain  that  might 
once  have  been  the  bed  of  a  lake  formed  by  moun- 
tain torrents  partially  confined.  It  was  an  irregular 
oval,  two  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and 
a  mile  and  a  half  wide.  As  large  an  exact  para- 
lellogram  as  the  space  would  allow  was  surrounded 
by  a  deep  canal,  or  river,  shut  in  by  balustrades 
on  both  sides,  and  having  its  outlet  southward 
through  the  mountains.  This  space  was  the  town, 
as  compactly  built  as  possible. 

Across  the  centre,  from  east  to  west,  ran  a  wide 
avenue  that  expanded  at  middle  length  to  a  square. 
Seen  from  a  height  this  avenue  and  square  looked 
like  a  huge  cross  laid  down  across  the  town.  Nar- 
row streets,  alternating  with  single  blocks  of  houses, 
ran  north  and  south,  only  an  open  space  of  a  few 
feet  being  left  all  round  next  the  river.  The  cross- 
streets  did  not  make  a  complete  sejiaration  of  the 
houses,  but  cut  away  onlj  the  basement  and  floor 
above,  so  that  one  looked  across  the  town  through 
a  succession  of  arches. 

The  houses  were  all  of  gray  stone,  three  stories 
high,  with  a  patio,  a  flat  roof,  and  two  fronts. 
There  was  no  sign  of  an  outbuilding,  nor  was 
there  a  blade  of  grass  in  the  gray  stone  pavement 


SAN  SALVADOR.  81 

that  covered  every  inch  of  ground  inside  the  river. 
But  there  were  plants  on  the  roofs.  At  each  end 
of  the  avenue  a  bridge  as  wide  crossed  the  river; 
and  there  were  four  narrow  bridges  at  each  of  the 
four  sides  of  the  town. 

In  the  southern  half  of  the  square  was  a  building 
called  the  Assembly,  from  its  use,  or  the  Star-house, 
from  its  shape.  It  had  three  triangular  stories  set 
one  over  the  other  in  the  shape  of  a  six -pointed 
star,  the  protruding  angles  forming  vestibules  be- 
low with  their  supporting  columns,  and  terraces 
abov^e.  These  columns  restored  the  symmetry  of 
the  structure,  and  gave  it  grace  and  lightness. 

In  the  northern  square  was  a  low  bell-tower  with 
a  pulpit  built  against  its  southern  side.  The  first 
floor  was  an  open  room  surrounded  by  arches. 

With  the  exception  of  these  two  structures,  no- 
thing could  be  more  monotonous  in  form  and  color 
than  the  whole  town ;  while  nothing  coidd  be  more 
varied  than  its  setting. 

That  i3art  of  the  plain  outside  the  river,  called  the 
Cornice,  had  a  straisfht  edo^e  next  the  river  and  an 
outer  edge  that  showed  every  wildest  caprice. 
Sometimes  it  ran  into  the  mountains  in  bays,  in 
curves  and  rivers,  and  sometimes  the  mountains 
crowded  it  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  river.  All 
around  rose  the  mountain  wall,  lined  with  hills, 
gentle,  or  abrupt;  and,  inundating  all,  a  flood  of 
verdure  was  thrown  up  on  every  side,  like  the 
waves  of  a  sea.  The  ragged  edges  of  the  plain 
were  heavy  with  wheat,  rice  and  corn;  higher  up 


82  SAN  SALVADOR. 

were  orchards,  vineyards,  and  terraced  gardens, 
and  a  smoke  of  olives  curling  about  everywhere,  and 
groves  of  trees  crowded  into  sunny  hollows,  and 
wedges  of  pines  thrust  upward,  diminishing  till  the 
last  tree  stood  alone  beneath  a  gigantic  cornice-rim 
of  rock,  snow  and  ice, — 

**  Where  the  olive  dare  not  venture, 
And  the  pine-tree's  courage  fails." 

Around  the  middle  distance  of  this  garden-zone 
was  a  wavering  path,  now  visible  to  the  town,  now 
lost,  with  frequent  dropping  paths,  half  stairs,  to 
the  plain.  This  path  was  called  the  Ring.  Here 
and  there  was  a  glistening  watercourse,  or  cascade ; 
and  the  whole  garden -circle  was  sparsely  dotted  with 
little  cottages,  some  of  them  scarcely  more  than 
huts. 

Two  great  masses  of  rock  detached  from  the 
mountains  were  connected  with  them  by  bridges. 
That  at  the  southwest  was  covered  with  a  building 
containing  a  school  for  boys,  that  at  the  northeast 
had  the  hospital. 

Directly  opposite  the  eastern  end  of  the  avenue 
was  the  largest  building  in  the  town,  called  the 
Arcade.  Here  was  the  girls'  school,  and  a  hotel 
for  women.  , 

It  was  here  that  Tacita  Mora  stood,  in  the  long 
wide  veranda  that  followed  the  whole  irregular 
front  of  the  building,  and  looked  for  the  first  time 
on  the  city  of  her  birth.  But  of  all  this  scene, 
splendid  by  daylight,  in  that  midnight  hour  she  saw 
only  a  bold  mountain  outline  high  against  the  stars, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  83 

with  an  embroidery  of  shadows  beneath,  and  lower 
yet,  a  gray  bas-relief  that  as  it  ajjproached  nearer 
became  houses. 

Presently,  the  waning  moon  came  up  over  the 
mountains  behind  the  Arcade,  and  set  a  snow-peak 
glistening  opposite,  and  half  unveiled  a  ghostly 
sheeted  avalanche,  and  penciled  here  and  there  a 
clearer  outline,  and  showed  the  embossed  surface 
of  the  plain  cleft  smoothly  across  from  beneath  the 
veranda  where  she  stood  to  something  far  away 
that  seemed  like  a  white  wavering  cascade,  with  a 
fiery  sparkle  above  it  as  the  moon  rose  higher. 

The  desire  to  know  more,  to  see  nearer,  to  assure 
herself  by  actual  touch  that  this  was  not  all  a  twi- 
light mirage  became  irresistible. 

"Be  free  as  in  your  father's  house,"  Elena  had 
said  to  her. 

There  was  no  sign  nor  sound  of  any  one  abroad. 
The  soft  rustle  of  running  waters  alone  moved  the 
silence. 

Tacita  found  the  last  stair  and  went  out.  In 
that  delicate  airy  illumination  the  avenue  disclosed 
itself  before  her,  and  the  white  object  far  away 
became  stationary.  But  the  sparkle  above  it  had 
disappeared.  She  went  forward  timidly,  pausing 
to  listen,  turning  to  retreat,  and  again  advancing, 
at  once  resolute  and  afraid. 

A  few  silvery  bird-notes  floated  through  the  si- 
lence ;  a  white  network  of  cloud,  like  a  bed  of 
anemones,  veiled  the  moon's  crescent. 

Tacita,   gathering  courage   and    excited    by  the 


84  SAN  SALVADOR. 

spirit  of  adventure,  hastened  till  she  reached  the 
Square,  paused  there  but  a  moment,  and  then  hur- 
ried on  toward  that  white  object  which  was  her 
goal.  It  was  a  little  above  the  level  of  the  town; 
it  took  shape  as  she  drew  nearer,  and  became  the 
facade  of  a  white  building  with  a  fragmentary  glim- 
merinof  across  it  and  above;  it  showed  a  back- 
ground  of  dark  rock,  and  a  plateau  in  front  sur- 
rounded by  a  white  balustrade.  In  all  the  town 
there  was  nothing  white  except  this  building  and 
the  balustrade  raised  and  overlooking  every  other 
building.  In  a  Christian  community  only  a  church 
would  be  so  enthroned. 

Tacita  crossed  the  bridge,  and  went  to  kneel  on 
the  steps  leading  from  the  level  to  the  inclosed 
terrace.  There  was  a  smooth  facade  with  a  great 
door  in  receding  arches  in  the  centre,  above  a  flight 
of  white  steps,  five  rose  windows  following  the 
arched  line  of  the  roof,  and  something  like  a  gilded 
lettering  across  the  middle  height. 

As  the  anemone-cloud  drew  away  from  the  moon, 
the  letters  grew  distinct,  and  the  text  shone  out 
full  and  clear :  — 

I  AM  THE  Light  of  the  World. 

At  sight  of  that  shining  legend  aloft,  something 
stirred  in  the  girl's  memory.  A  thick  curtain  of 
years  parted,  showing  a  distinct  fragment  of  tlie 
past.  Once,  long  ago,  she  had  looked  up  at  that 
white  expanse  and  seen  upon  its  front  the  line  of 
shining  figures.  Her  hands  held  the  soft  fold  of  a 
dress,  and  a  hand  rested  lightly  on  her  head.     In 


SAN  SALVADOR.  85 

her  memory  the  bright  figures  were  associated  with 
the  idea  of  a  great  golden  lamp,  softly  luminous, 
swung  by  a  golden  chain  down  from  the  skies,  and 
of  a  face  all  radiant,  and  a  sweet  voice  that  said : 
Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

"I  must  have  stood  on  this  very  spot  with  my 
mother  while  she  explained  the  words  to  me,  and 
told  how  he  blessed  little  children." 

When  the  bee  has  gathered  all  the  honey  that 
it  can  carry,  it  flies  home. 

Tacita's  heart  was  full.  She  wanted  no  more 
that  night. 

But  there  was  no  timidity  in  her  return.  The 
place  was  walled  in  as  by  a  host  of  angels.  The 
fold  of  her  mother's  dress  seemed  yet  within  her 
grasp,  and  the  flowing  water  was  a  song  of  peace. 

The  candle,  burnt  low,  was  where  she  had  left 
it  on  the  stair,  and  all  was  silent  and  deserted  on 
the  way  up  to  her  chamber. 


CHAPTER   X. 

"You  have  taken  the  edge  off  the  surprise  I 
meant  for  you,"  Elena  said  when  Tacita  told  her 
of  her  midnight  walk.  "But  there  still  remains 
something  to  please  you  with  its  novelty.  Go  and 
see  the  Basilica.  The  door  is  open  all  day.  You 
can  go  alone,  and  will  enjoy  it  more  so  than  with 
company.  When  you  come  back  I  will  have  your 
new  room  all  ready  for  you.  It  is  in  front,  over 
the  great  veranda,  a  little  to  the  right." 

"Shall  I  meet  many  people  in  the  street?  "  Ta- 
cita asked. 

"You  will  see  very  few  ;  and  they  will  all  be  on 
some  business.  We  are  an  industrious  commu- 
nity, and  there  is  no  one  who  has  not  something 
to  do  in  the  morning.  It  is  only  toward  evening 
that  we  walk  for  pleasure." 

"Will  any  one  speak  to  me?  " 

"  Probably  not ;  but  they  will  bow  to  you.  You 
have  only  to  bow  and  smile  in  return." 

"Can  I  smile  to  everybody?  " 

"If  the  smile  wants  to  come." 

"Oh,  Elena,  that  is  the  best  of  all !  "  Tacita  ex- 
claimed. "Sometimes  I  have  met  strangers  whom 
it  seemed  impossible  to  pass  without  notice.  Per- 
haps the  person  appeared  to  be  in  trouble,  or  was 


SAN  SALVADOR,  87 

uncommonly  simpatica  ;  or  for  the  moment  I  hap- 
pened to  feel  strongly  that  we  are  all  'poor  banished 
children  of  Eve.'  It  was  an  affection  that  I  can- 
not describe,  as  though  it  were  heaven  to  sacrifice 
your  life  in  order  to  save  or  console  another.  I 
gave,  perhaps,  a  glance  that  rested  a  moment,  or  a 
faint  —  oh,  so  faint !  -«-  hint  of  a  smile ;  and  I  was 
always  pained  and  mortified,  the  person  would  look 
so  surprised.  It  showed  me  plainly  that  the  earth 
is  indeed  accursed  when  our  kindest  impulses  are 
so  misunderstood." 

While  speaking,  she  put  on  a  new  dress  that 
Elena  had  brought  her.  It  was  a  long  robe  of  thin 
dark  blue  wool,  bound  at  the  waist  by  a  silken  sash, 
a  lighter  tint  of  the  same  color.  The  wide  straight 
sleeves  fell  over  the  hands,  or  were  turned  back, 
such  sleeves  as  may  be  gathered  up  under  a  brooch 
at  the  shoulder.  A  long  scarf  of  the  woolen  gauze 
served  to  wrap  the  head  and  neck,  if  necessary. 
There  were  gloves  of  fine  white  kid  and  russet 
shoes  with  silver  buckles. 

Elena  wore  the  same  style  of  dress  in  gray. 

"Gray  is  our  working  color,"  she  explained. 
"Sometimes  it  is  worn  with  leathern  belts,  or 
sashes  of  another  color.  Gray  alone,  or  with 
black,  or  white,  is  mourning.  White  is  our  high- 
est gala.  The  very  old  wear  white  always.  It 
gives  that  look  of  cleanliness  and  freshness  which 
age  needs.  The  children  are  our  butterflies. 
They  wear  gay  colors.  We  never  change  the 
form  of  our  dress.      The  only  variation  is  in  color 


88  SAN  SALVADOR. 

and  material.      I  think  that  you  will  scarcely  find 
anything-  more  graceful,  modest,  or  convenient." 

"It  's  the  prettiest  dress  I  ever  had,"  said  Ta- 
cita.      "And  now  —  and  now  "  — 

They  went  down  stairs  and  stepped  out  into  the 
veranda,  and  the  full  splendor  of  what  she  had 
seen  but  in  shadow  burst  upon  Tacita's  view. 

There  was  every  shaj)e  and  shade  of  verdure,  and 
every  shape  of  barren  rock  and  gleaming  snow. 
There  were  mists  of  rose,  blue,  and  gold  that  were 
flowers.  There  was  every  depth  of  shadow,  from 
the  tender  veil  as  delicate  as  the  shadow  of  eye- 
lashes on  the  eye,  to  the  rich  dusk  lurking  be- 
neath some  wooded  steep  or  overhanging  crag. 
The  houses  were  of  a  silvery  gray,  bright  on  the 
roofs  with  plants  and  awnings.  Wherever  there 
was  water,  it  glittered.  The  facade  of  the  Basilica 
was  like  snow,  and  its  five  windows  blazed  in  the 
morning  sun.  The  wavering  path  that  threaded 
the  gardens  w^as  yellow,  and  shone  with  some 
sparkling  gravel. 

Tacita  leaned  over  the  balustrade  and  looked 
right  and  left.  At  every  turn  some  lovely  picture 
presented  itself. 

"There  is  no  one  in  the  avenue,"  Elena  said. 
"But  the  archways  will  be  cooler." 

Tacita  chose  the  deserted  avenue,  and  walked 
timidly,  almost  without  raising  her  eyes,  till  the 
second  bridge  w^as  passed,  and  the  Basilica  rose  be- 
fore her,  standing  out  from  a  mass  of  dark  rock 
that  almost  touched  the  tribune. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  89 

Nine  steps  of  gray  stone  led  np  to  the  white 
balustrade.  Within,  at  either  side  was  a  square 
of  turf,  thick  and  fine,  separated  and  surrounded 
by  a  path  of  yellow  gravel,  sparkling  with  little 
garnets. .  Three  white  steps  above  led  to  the  double 
door,  now  wide  open.  There  were  inscriptions  on 
the  fronts  of  the  steps.  The  upper  one  bore  in 
Latin  that  most  perfect  of  all  acts  of  thanksgiving, 
We  give  thee  thanks  for  thy  great  glory.  The 
vestibule  was  one  third  the  width  of  the  Basilica, 
two  narrow  side  doors,  unseen  from  the  front,  haA^- 
ing  vestibules  of  the  same  size.  This  was  entirely 
unadorned,  except  by  the  two  valves  of  the  carved 
door  of  cedar  and  olive-wood  shut  back  against  the 
wall,  and  the  shining  folds  of  a  white  linen  curtain 
shutting  an  inner  arch  of  the  same  size.' 

Lifting  the  linen  band  that  drew  these  folds 
aside,  Tacita  was  confronted  by  another  curtain,  a 
purple  brocade  of  silk  and  wool,  heavily  fringed. 

She  dropped  the  linen  behind  her,  and  stood 
cloistered  between  the  two  for  a  moment;  then, 
lifting  a  purple  fold,  stood  before  a  screen  that 
seemed  woven  of  sunshine.  A  gold-colored  silk 
brocade  with  a  bullion  fringe  that  quivered  with 
light  closed  the  inner  edge  of  the  arch. 

Two  contrary  impulses  held  a  momentary  soft 
and  delightful  conflict  in  her  mind :  an  impatient 
desire  to  see  what  was  beyond  that  veil,  and  a  re- 
strainins"  desire  to  let  imao'ination  sketch  one  swift 
picture  of  what  was  so  delicately  guarded. 

Then,  holding  her  breath,  she  slipped  past  the 
scintillating  fringes  and  stood  in  the  nave. 


90  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Flooded  with  the  morning  sunshine,  the  place 
was  as  brilliant  as  a  rainbow.  Even  the  white 
marble  footing  of  the  walls,  and  the  two  lines 
of  white  marble  columns,  overhung  with  lilies  in- 
stead of  acanthus  leaves,  caught  a  sunny  glow  from 
that  illumination.  The  walls,  frescoed  with  land- 
scapes of  every  clime,  showed  all  the  rich  hues  of 
nature.  The  blue  ceiling  sparkled  with  flecks  of 
gold,  there  were  golden  texts  on  the  white  marble 
of  the  lower  walls  that  condensed  the  whole  story 
of  Judaism  and  Christianity.  On  the  pedestals 
of  the  ten  lower  columns  were  inscribed  the  Ten 
Commandments.  The  pavement  of  polished  green 
porphyry  reflected  softly  all  this  wealth  of  coloring, 
and  as  it  approached  the  tribune  was  tinted  like 
still  waters  at  sunset.  For  the  Basilica  of  San 
Salvador  was  simply  the  throne-room  of  its  Divine 
King;  and  the  throne  was  in  the  tribune. 

A  deep  alcove  rising  to  the  roof  was  lined  with 
a  purple  curtain  like  that  of  the  portal;  and  raised 
against  it,  nine  steps  from  the  pavement,  was  a 
throne  made  of  acacia  wood  covered  with  plates  of 
wrousrht  sfold.  From  the  arch  above,  where  the 
purple  drapery  was  gathered  under  the  white  out- 
spread wings  of  a  dove,  suspended  by  golden  chains 
so  fine  as  to  be  almost  invisible,  hung  a  jeweled 
diadem  that  quivered  with  prismatic  hues.  The 
footstool  before  the  throne  was  a  block  of  alabas- 
ter ;  and  on  its  front  was  inscribed  in  golden  letters : 

Come  unto  me^  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden^  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  91 

The  white  marble  steps  were  in  groups  of  three, 
each  surmounted  by  a  low  balustrade  of  alabaster 
hung  with  golden  lilies  between  each  snowy  post. 
A  broad  purple  -  cushioned  step  surrounded  the 
lower  balustrade.  Otherwise  there  was  no  seat 
nor  resting-place  but  the  pavement. 

Tacita  sank  on  her  knees  and  gazed  at  that 
throne  that  shone  full  of  sunshine,  half  expecting 
that  the  light  would  presently  condense  itself  into 
the  likeness  of  a  Divine  Face.  The  crown  hung 
just  where  it  might  have  rested  on  the  brow  of  an 
heroic  figure  enthroned  beneath.  And  was  there 
not  a  quiver  in  the  jewels  as  if  they  moved,  catch- 
ing and  splintering  the  sunrays  on  diamond  points, 
or  drinking  them  in  smooth  rubies,  or  imprisoning 
their  fluttering  colors  in  white  veiled  opals,  or 
showing  in  emeralds  a  promise  of  the  immortal 
spring  of  Heaven  !  And  was  there  not  a  whisper 
and  a  rustling  as  of  a  host  preceding  the  advent 
of  some  supreme  Presence? 

She  put  aside  her  fancies,  and  made  a  heartfelt 
thanksgiving  to  him  who  was  truly  there,  then 
rose  and  slowly  approached  the  throne.  The 
work  was  all  beautiful.  The  fluting  of  the  col- 
umns was  exquisite,  and  every  milk-white  lily  that 
was  twined  in  their  capitals  was  finished  with  a 
loving  hand.  On  the  fronts  of  the  steps  were 
names  of  prophets,  apostles  and  saints,  highest  of 
all  and  alone,  the  name  of  Abraham  surrounded  by 
the  words  he  spoke  to  his  son,  Isaac,  as  they  went 
up  the  mountain  in  Moriah :  — 


92  SAN,  SALVADOR. 

My  son,  God  loill  2Jrovide  himself  a  lamh  for  a 
hurnt-offering . 

Lower  down  were  names  of  beneficent  gods  and 
goddesses,  all  names  wliicli  the  cliiklren  of  men  had 
lovingly  and  reverently  worshiped,  each  light-bear- 
ing god  or  goddess  with  a  star  to  his  name. 

Tacita  remembered  her  grandfather's  declara- 
tion :  "  Show  me  the  path  by  which  any  human  soul 
has  climbed  to  worship  the  highest  that  it  could 
conceive  of  the  Divine,  and  I  will  see  there  the  foot- 
steps of  God  coming  down  to  meet  that  soul." 

Her  heart  expanded  at  the  thought.  It  seemed 
the  very  spirit  of  the  Good  Shepherd  gathering  all 
into  his  fold  —  all  who  lifted  up  their  hearts  in 
search  of  something  above  their  comprehension,  but 
not  above  their  love. 

With  a  deep  sigh  of  utter  contentment  she  turned 
aside,  and  walked  down  one  aisle  and  up  the  other, 
looking  at  the  frescoes. 

The  wall  of  the  three  vestibules  extended  quite 
across  the  Basilica  with  a  wide  gallery  above ;  and 
from  the  golden  fringe  of  the  portal  to  the  purple 
fringe  of  the  apsis,  one  scene  melted  into  another 
with  such  artful  gradations  that  there  was  no  break 
in  the  picture;  and  all  ended  against  the  ceiling 
in  mountain,  or  tree-top,  or  vine,  or  in  a  flock  of 
birds,  so  that  it  did  not  seem  an  ending. 

A  glimpse  of  polar  sea  with  an  aurora  of  the 
north  and  icebergs  began  the  panorama;  and  then 
came  full  streams  overhung  by  dark  pine-trees  that 
presently  showed  green  mosses  and  springing  deli- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  93 

cate  flowers  under  their  shadows.  The  scene  soft- 
ened, and  grew  yet  softer,  till  a  palm-tree  was 
over-brushed  by  the  purple  curtain  of  the  apse, 
and  a  line  of  silvery  beach,  and  a  glimpse  of  sea 
and  of  a  far-away  misty  sun-steeped  island  just 
escaped  its  folds.  There  were  sunsets  shining 
through  forest-reaches,  brooks  dancing  over  stones, 
the  curve  of  a  river,  the  violet  outline  of  a  moun- 
tain faint  against  the  sky,  lambs  sunk  in  a  green 
flowery  meadow  and  half  submerged,  looking  like 
scattered  pearls.  There  were  gray  streaks  of  rain, 
and  a  glimpse  of  a  rainbow;  there  was  sunrise 
over  bald  crags  where  an  eagle  stood  black  against 
its  opal  background.  The  butterfly  fanned  its  ca- 
pricious way  with  widespread  wings,  the  bee  and 
humming-bird  dived  into  the  flower,  the  stag  stood 
listening  with  head  alert,  the  elephant  pulled  down 
the  fruit-laden  branches,  the  dragon-fly  spread  its 
gauzy  wings ;  but  nowhere  was  there  any  sign  of 
man,  nor  of  the  works  of  man. 

From  one  aisle  to  the  other  Tacita  went,  won- 
dering more  and  more  of  what  famous  artist  this 
could  have  been  the  crowning  work.  From  the 
portal  at  both  sides  the  scenes  were  arctic;  but 
their  procession  was  infinitely  varied.  The  small 
doors  entering  from  the  sides  were  scarcely  visible 
in  rocks  and  arching  trees.  A  heavy  grapevine 
climbing  to  hang  along  the  ceiling  seemed  to  hide 
all  but  the  tiny  cove  of  a  pond  spotted  with  lilies, 
amid  which  floated  a  pair  of  swans. 

At  the  left  side,  burning  the  jungle  from  which 


94  SAN  SALVADOR. 

he  issued,  a  tiger  stood  and  stared  intently  at  the 
Throne. 

But  in  all  there  was  no  sign  of  man,  nor  of  the 
works  of  man. 

When  Tacita  reached  the  Arcade  on  her  return, 
Elena  was  waiting  for  her  at  the  lower  entrance, 
and  uttered  an  interrogative  "Well?" 

"I  have  no  words  !  Don't  ask  me  about  the 
Basilica.  I  met  some  people  coming  back.  How 
well  they  stand  and  walk.  Standing  and  walking 
must  be  taught  here.  Every  one  understands  it  so 
well.  I  kissed  my  fingers  to  a  little  girl,  and  she 
came  and  touched  my  girdle,  then  brushed  her 
fingers  across  her  lips,  and  ran  away  again  before 
I  could  stop  her.     Oh,  it  is  all  so  lovely!  " 

They  went  up  to  a  pleasant  chamber  that  looked 
across  the  town.  "This  is  your  room,  dear,"  Elena 
said.  "The  dining-room  is  just  across  the  cor- 
ridor. We  will  have  our  dinner  at  our  own  little 
table  before  the  school-girls  come  in ;  and  you  can 
be  served  in  your  own  room  any  time  you  like.  It 
is  but  a  step  more  to  take.  And  here  is  the  salon, 
just  beside  you.  It  is  but  little  used;  for  except 
when  a  stranger  comes,  we  do  not  visit  in  San  Sal- 
vador. Our  houses  are  for  our  private  life.  We 
meet  frequently,  may  meet  ahnost  every  evening  at 
the  assembly-room  in  the  Star-house;  and  as  it  is 
open  every  day,  and  there  are  a  good  many  nooks 
and  corners  there  beside  the  chief  rooms,  there  is 
always  a  place  for  a  tete-a-tete,  or  a  little  com- 
pany.    But  some  people  will  come  here  to  see  you. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  95 

You  will  like  to  make  some  acquaintances  before 
going  to  the  assembly.  I  hope  that  you  may  feel 
rested  enough  to  go  to-morrow  night." 

The  salon  was  simply  furnished,  and  had  no  need 
of  other  ornament  than  the  view  seen  from  its  win- 
dows. There  was  a  single  picture  on  the  wall,  rep- 
resenting a  young  woman  of  a  noble  figure  standing 
erect,  her  arms  hanging  at  her  sides,  and  one  hand 
holding  a  scroll.  She  wore  the  costume  of  San 
Salvador  of  a  tawny  brown  with  yellow  sash  and 
scarf.  Under  one  foot,  slightly  advanced,  lay  a 
Cupid  sprawling  face  downward,  the  fragments  of 
his  bow  and  arrows  scattered  about.  The  face  was 
of  a  somewhat  full  oval,  olive-tinted,  with  heavy 
black  hair  drawn  back  from  the  temples,  a  delicate 
rose-color  in  the  cheeks,  and  sweet  red  lips.  The 
large  dark  eyes  looked  straight  out  with  a  lofty  and 
thoughtful  exjiression.  The  whole  figure  was  in- 
stinct with  a  fine  animal  life,  such  life  as  sustains 
a  strong  soul  full  of  feeling  and  intelligence.  All 
the  curves  of  the  face  were  tender ;  but  they  were 
contradicted  by  an  assumption  of  reserve  almost 
too  severe  for  beauty.  It  was  the  picture  of  a  lov- 
ing nature  that  had  renounced  love. 

"That  is  our  lona,"  Elena  said.  "She  is  the 
Directress  of  the  girls'  school,  and  she  is  the 
women's  tribune.  All  classes  have  with  us  their 
tribune,  or  advocate.  lona  has  traveled  and 
studied  in  both  continents.  She  has  advanced  so 
far  in  astronomy  that  she  teaches  it  even  in  the 
boys'  school.      Would  you  like  to  have  her  teach 


96  SAN  SALVADOR. 

you  onr  language?  She  has  offered  herself  as 
your  teacher." 

"If  she  will  take  the  trouble,  I  shall  feel  hon- 
ored. What  a  noble-looking  creature !  Is  she  a 
native  of  San  Salvador?  "" 

"  Yes ;  and  she  has  a  brother  here  who  has  never 
been  outside.  Ion  is  one  of  the  cleverest  boys  we 
have.  Their  parents  died  when  they  were  very 
young." 

Later,  when  they  had  eaten  their  dinner,  and 
Tacita  was  alone,  there  was  a  tap  at  the  door,  and 
she  rose  to  meet  the  original  of  the  portrait.  lona 
had  tapped  with  her  ivory  tablets,  and  was  push- 
ing them  into  the  folds  of  her  sash  as  she  entered. 

There  was  something  electric  in  the  instant  dur- 
ing which  the  two  paused  and  looked  at  each  other 
without  speaking.  Then  lona  stepped  forward, 
gentle,  but  unsmiling,  laid  a  hand  on  Tacita' s  arm, 
and,  bending,  kissed  her  lightly  on  the  forehead. 

"You  are  welcome  to  San  Salvador  I"  she  said 
with  deliberation,  in  a  melodious,  bell-like  voice. 
"I  hope  that  3'ou  will  be  contented  here.  Does 
the  place  please  you?" 

"I  am  enchanted  I  "  Tacita  said.  "I  ask  myself 
continually  if  I  have  not  found  the  long-lost  gar- 
den of  Eden." 

The  two  contemplated  each  other  with  something 
more  than  curiosity.  Tacita  was  conscious  of  a 
certain  restraint  and  something  akin  to  disappoint- 
ment while  talking  with  this  woman,  who  was  even 
more  beautiful  than  her  portrait.     The  form,  the 


SAN  SALVAUOR.  97 

teeth,  the  mass  of  hair  were  the  most  superb  that 
she  had  ever  seen;  and  though  the  skin  was  dark, 
every  faintest  wave  of  color  was  visible  through  it. 
While  she  talked,  the  color  deeiDcned  in  her  cheeks 
till  she  glowed  like  a  rose. 

The  blue  dress  with  its  silver  clasps  might  have 
been  too  trying  to  her  olive  skin  but  for  this  lovely 
blush. 

lona  proposed  herself  courteously  as  teacher,,  and 
Tacita  thankfully  accepted,  offering  herself  in  re- 
turn for  any  service  she  might  be  able  to  perform. 

"Be  quite  at  easel  "  her  visitor  replied,  not  un- 
kindly. "You  will  soon  have  an  opportunity.  I 
have  already  thought  that  you  might  be  willing  to 
assist  in  the  Italian  classes.  You  speak  the  lan- 
guage beautifully.  But  for  some  time  yet  you  will 
have  employment  enough  in  seeing  the  place  and 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  people  and  their  cus- 
toms. Of  course  Elena  has  already  told  you  that 
there  need  be  no  restraint  on  your  wanderings. 
Every  one  you  meet  will  be  a  friend,  whether  he 
can  tell  you  so  or  not.  The  language  most  useful 
to  you  will  be  French,  though  there  is  scarcely  a 
language,  living  or  dead,  which  some  one  here  does 
not  speak." 

Tacita  begged  to  know  something  of  the  govern- 
ment of  San  Salvador. 

"  We  have  a  few  general  principles  which  give 
form  to  every  detail,"  lona  said.  "For  personal 
disorders  in  the  young,  parents  and  teachers  are 
held  responsible ;  for  any  social  disorder,  our  rul- 


98  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Grs  are  held  responsible.  Probably,  all  blame  is 
finally  laid  on  the  father  and  mother,  and  more  es- 
pecially on  the  mother.  The  training  of  the  child 
is  held  to  be  of  supreme  importance,  and  there 
is  no  more  dignified  occupation.  We  say,  'The 
mother  of  children  is  the  mother  of  the  state. '  No 
diseased  or  deformed  person  is  allowed  to  have 
children.  You  will  not  hear  any  mother  in  San 
Salvador  complain  of  her  child  as  having  a  bad 
temper,  or  evil  dispositions.  She  would  be  told 
that  the  child  was  what  she  made  it. 

"The  children  stay  at  home  till  they  are  about 
four  years  of  age.  Then  their  whole  day  is  spent 
at  school,  where  all  their  meals  are  taken.  The 
mothers  take  their  turns,  all  who  have  not  infants, 
as  matrons  of  the  schools,  a  week  at  a  time.  Their 
sole  duty  is  to  see  that  the  food  is  good  and  suffi- 
cient, that  the  little  ones  have  their  nap,  and  that 
their  health  is  thought  of.  I  suppose  you  know 
that  we  have  public  kitchens  where  all  the  cook- 
ing is  done.  The  kitchen  for  the  children  is  by 
itself,  and  so  is  that  for  the  sick.  Here  also  the 
ladies  serve  their  week  in  a  year  or  thereabout,  as 
matrons.  They  make  the  bill  of  fare,  and  have  an 
eye  to  the  sending  out  of  all  but  the  food  for  the 
children  and  the  sick,  these  having  their  special 
matrons. 

"We  do  not  lay  much  stress  on  the  form  of 
a  government.  The  important  thing  is  personal 
character.  A  republic  may  be  made  the  worst  of 
tyrannies;    and   an    absolute    monarchy  might   be 


SAN  SALVADOR.  99 

beneficent,  though  the  experiment  would  be  a  dan- 
gerous one.  Tlie  duty  of  a  government  is  to  obey 
the  laws  and  compel  everybody  else  to  obe}^  them. 
That  is  literal.  We  have  no  sophistries  about  it. 
Of  course,  Dylar  is  our  chief,  and  in  some  sense 
he  is  absolute.  Yet  no  one  governs  less  than  he. 
We  take  care  of  the  individual,  and  the  state  takes 
care  of  itself.  Moreover,  the  Dylar  have  alwa^^s 
been  the  first  to  scrupulously  obey  our  laws  and 
observe  our  customs.  There  is  a  council  of  elders ; 
Professor  Pearlstein  is  president.  No  one  under 
sixty  years  of  age  is  eligible.  Each  class  has  a  tri- 
bune chosen  by  itself.  I  hold  a  sinecure  as  tribune 
for  the  women.  I  fancy  "  —  looking  at  her  com- 
panion with  a  smile  of  sudden  sweetness  —  "  that 
you  may  be  our  long  looked  for  tribune  for  the 
children." 

"Surely  it  should  be  a  mother  to  hold  that 
office,"  Tacita  said. 

"Think  a  moment!  "  said  lona,  her  smiling  ej'^es 
lingering  on  the  sweet  face. 

"It  is  true,"  said  Tacita  slowly.  "Parents  do 
not  always  understand  their  own  children." 

"They  are  sometimes  cruel  to  them  when  they 
think  themselves  kind,"  lona  said  with  energy. 
"They  sometimes  ruin  their  lives  by  their  partial- 
ity. They  sometimes  tread  as  with  the  hoofs  of  a 
beast  on  the  feelings  of  the  most  sensitive  of  their 
flock.  How  often  are  children  mute!  The  finer 
they  are,  the  more  isolated  are  their  puzzled  and 
often    grieving  souls.     They  sometimes    suffer  an 


100  SAN  SALVADOR. 

immense  injustice  without  being  able  to  right  them- 
selves, or  even  to  complain ;  and  this  injustice  may 
leave  them  morally  lame  for  life.  Children  should 
be  shielded  from  pain  even  as  you  shield  a  young 
plant  from  the  storm.  When  the  fibres  of  both 
are  knit,  then  give  them  storm  as  well  as  sunshine." 

'*  I  see  that  the  boys  and  girls  are  kept  apart  both 
in  their  education  and  socially,"  Tacita  remarked. 
"I  have  heard  that  point  discussed  outside." 

"It  will  never  be  discussed  here,"  said  lona  with 
decision.  "  All  have  equal  opportunities ;  but  they 
do  not  have  them  in  common.  The  result  justifies 
the  rule.  When  the  boys  and  girls  approach  a 
marriageable  age  they  are  allowed  a  free  intercourse 
and  free  choice.  In  questions  concerning  the  honor 
of  the  state  we  have  no  theorizing;  and  the  state 
has  as  much  interest  in  the  child  as  the  parent  has. 
It  has  more.  The  parent  suffers  from  the  sin,  or 
gains  by  the  honor  of  his  child  for  but  a  few  years ; 
the  state  may  suffer  or  profit  from  the  same  cause 
for  centuries.  Besides,  a  well-organized  and  or- 
derly government  is  of  more  importance  to  the 
well-being  of  every  individual  than  any  other  in- 
dividual can  be.  The  love  of  no  individual  can 
console  a  man  in  the  midst  of  anarchy,  or  when  he 
is  the  victim  of  a  tyrant.  You  have  to  thank  your 
parents  for  human  life,  if  you  hold  it  a  boon ;  and 
you  have  to  thank  your  government  for  making  that 
life  secure  and  free." 

"  And  if  you  have  not  security  and  3^our  reason- 
able degree  of  freedom?  "  asked  Tacita. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  101 

"Then  the  greater  number  of  your  people  are 
bad,  and  the  few  have  an  opportunity  to  be  heroic." 

"  My  grandfather  had  no  respect  for  the  opinions 
of  majorities,"  Tacita  said.  "He  said  that  out  of 
a  thousand  persons  it  was  quite  possible  that  one 
might  be  right  and  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
wrong.  He  said  that  the  history  of  the  world  is  a 
history  of  individuals." 

As  lona  rose  to  go,  the  door  opened,  and  Elena 
came  in  followed  by  Dylar. 

Tacita  went  with  some  agitation  to  meet  this 
man,  who  was  still,  to  her,  a  mystery.  Nor  was  he 
less  a  mystery  when  she  found  him  simply  a  digni- 
fied and  agreeable  gentleman,  with  nothing  strange 
about  him  but  his  costume  of  dark  blue  cloth,  a 
sort  of  cashmere  of  silk  and  wool,  soft  and  softly 
tinted.  It  was  made  in  the  Scottish,  or  oriental 
fashion,  with  a  tunic  to  the  knee  and  a  silken  sash 
of  the  same  color.  He  wore  long  hose  of  black 
silk,  silver  buckles  to  his  shoes,  and  on  his  turban- 
shaped  cap,  made  of  the  same  blue  cloth,  was  a 
silver  band,  closed  at  the  left  side  by  a*  clasp  of  a 
strange  design.  A  hand  pointing  upward  with  all 
its  fingers  was  set  inside  of  a  triangle  that  was  in- 
closed in  a  winged  circle. 

Seeing  Tacita' s  glance  touch  this  symbol  more 
than  once,  Dylar  explained  it.  "  We  have  all  some 
badge,  according  to  our  occupation,"  he  said. 
"The  hand  is  manual  labor.  I  am  a  carpenter, 
and  have  served  my  apprenticeship,  though  I  sel- 
dom   do   any   work.     The    triangle    is    scientific 


102  SAN  SALVADOR. 

study,  and  the  winged  circle  is  a  messenger.  All 
those  who,  having  their  home  here,  go  out  on  our 
errands,  wear  this  winged  circlet.  It  is  the  only 
badge  I  really  earn ;  but  I  wear  the  three  as  Di- 
rector of  all." 

"I  hope  that  I  may  be  allowed  to  earn  one," 
Tacita  said,  trying  to  settle  her  mind  into  a  me- 
dium position  between  the  strange  romance  of  her 
first  impressions  of  this  man  and  the  not  unfamiliar 
reality  of  their  present  meeting.  The  penetrating 
eyes  were  there;  but  they  only  glanced  at  her 
kindly,  and  did  not  dwell.  A  slight  smile,  full  of 
friendliness,  illumined  his  face  as  he  spoke  to  her; 
but  between  it  and  her  there  floated  a  shadow-face, 
having  the  same  outlines  and  colors,  but  fixed  in  a 
gaze  of  intense  and  self -forgetful  study. 

"I  am  not  clairvoyant,"  he  said  presently,  his 
eyes  laughing;  "but  I  fancy  that  your  thought  has 
made  a  flight  to  Madrid  during  the  last  few  min- 
utes." 

"Could  I  help  it?  "  she  said  blushing.  "I  could 
not  venture  to  ask ;  but "  — 

"You  can  ask  anything!  "  Dylar  said.  "If  you 
show  no  curiosity,  I  shall  think  you  indifferent.  I 
am  told  that  the  resemblance  is  striking.  Of 
course  I  cannot  judge.  The  original  of  that  por- 
trait was  the  founder  of  San  Salvador,  and  a 
Dylar,  my  ancestor.  But,  my  lady,  I  had  already 
seen  something  more  than  a  picture  resembling  you 
when  we  met  in  Madrid.  I  had  seen  yourself,  not 
alone  in  Venice,  but  years  before,  in  Naples. 
You  spoke  to  me.     Do  you  remember?  '* 


SAN  SALVADOR,  103 

"Oil!  I  could  not  have  looked  at  you  and  for- 
gotten," she  answered  with  conviction. 

"Pardon I  You  looked  and  spoke.  And  you 
gave  me  an  alms." 

He  searched  in  the  folds  of  his  sash  for  a  coin, 
and  showed  it  to  her.  It  was  an  Italian  haiocco 
polished  till  it  looked  like  gold. 

"You  went  to  Naples  ten  years  ago  with  your 
mother  and  grandfather,"  Dylar  said.  "You  vis- 
ited the  Museum.  Two  men  were  seated  side  by 
side  on  the  steps  as  you  went  up,  a  young  and 
an  old  man ;  and  the  old  man  stretched  his  hand 
out  for  alms.  Your  mother  gave  him  something. 
The  young  man  did  not  ask,  but  you  gave  him  this 
baiocco,  and  you  said,  'My  brother,  I  am  sorry 
that  it  is  not  more.'  " 

For  a  moment  she  could  not  speak.  Then  she 
said,  — 

"I  was  taught  to  call  the  poor  brother  and  sis- 
ter. I  could  not  know  that  I  was  taking  a  lib- 
erty." 

"The  liberty  of  heaven!  "  said  Dylar.  "Well! 
I  thought  that  you  would  come  here  some  day. 
And  you  are  here  !  " 

He  rose,  looking  down,  as  if  to  temper  some- 
what the  joyousness  of  his  exclamation. 

"Ask  all  the  questions  you  choose,"  he  said. 
"Do  in  all  things  as  if  you  were  in  your  father's 
house.     Farewell,  till  we  meet  again." 


CHAPTER   XL 

All  the  social  life  of  San  Salvador  centred  in 
the  Star-house,  or  assembly  rooms,  in  the  Square. 
This  was  open  at  all  times  to  all  classes,  with  cer- 
tain restrictions.  No  one  should  go  there  in  a 
working  dress,  nor  except  by  appointment  to  meet 
some  one,  nor  when  any  other  convenient  rendezvous 
was  available,  and  no  one  should  enter  a  room  al- 
ready occupied.  It  was  on  no  account  to  be  used 
as  a  lounging  place.  The  result  of  these  regula- 
tions was  that  all  but  the  library  and  reading-room 
were  usually  deserted  by  day. 

The  lower  floor  was  the  music  and  dance  room, 
and  was  so  constructed,  the  floor  being  supported 
entirely  from  beneath,  and  detached  from  the 
walls,  that  no  jar  was  communicated  to  the  rooms 
above.  The  only  vestibule  to  this  room,  entered 
directly  from  the  Square,  was  that  formed  by  the 
pillars  supporting  the  protruding  angle  of  the  story 
above.  Inside,  the  corner  opposite  the  door  was 
railed  off  and  raised  for  an  orchestra.  The  angle 
at  the  right  was  curtained  off  for  a  dressing-room, 
and  the  third,  entered  from  the  outside,  contained 
the  stairway.  The  two  upper  floors  were  divided 
in  nearly  the  same  way ;  a  large,  hexagonal  room 
with  a  supporting  cluster  of  columns  in  the  centre, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  105 

and  three  small  rooms  walled  or  curtained  off  in 
the  angles,  one  containing  a  staircase. 

The  salon  on  the  second  floor  was  reserved  for 
conversation,  the  third  floor  was  a  library  and 
reading-room,  and  there  was  a  terrace  on  the  roof. 

The  structure  was  solidly  built,  and,  for  the 
greater  part,  very  plainly  finished.  There  was  a 
cluster  of  columns  in  the  centre  of  the  two  upper 
rooms  inclosing  a  slender  fountain  jet  in  a  high 
basin.  The  lights  were  all  placed  around  these 
columns,  and  from  each  of  them  an  arch  vaulted  to 
a  j^ilaster  in  each  of  the  six  angles  of  the  room. 
In  the  upper  floor  the  walls  were  covered  with 
book-cases,  in  the  lower  they  were  tinted  a  dark 
red  with  a  fresco  in  each  side  of  a  Muse  or  dancer. 

The  partitioned  angles  were  draped  with  curtains 
colored  like  the  walls. 

The  second  floor,  the  salon  par  excellence,  was 
more  brilliant.  The  walls  were  lined  with  small 
faceted  blocks  of  white  glass  set  in  an  amber-col- 
ored cement,  the  curtains  of  the  angles  were  of 
amber-colored  silk,  the  chairs,  divans,  sofas,  and 
amorini  were  covered  with  an  amber-colored  linen 
that  looked  like  satin,  the  floor  was  of  small  alter- 
nating amber  and  dark  green  tiles,  the  heavy  rugs 
were  amber  colored.  It  was  a  room  all  light,  ex- 
cept the  dark  green  divan  that  surrounded  the 
cluster  of  pillars. 

These  rooms  were  lighted  till  ten  o'clock  every 
evening  but  Sunday,  and  were  free  to  all ;  but  the 
inevitable  law  of  selection  had  made  it  a  tacit  cus- 


106  SAN  SALVADOR. 

torn  for  certain  persons  to  go  on  certain  evenings. 
To  meet  a  stranger,  it  was  considered  proper  to 
give  place  to  those  who  had  been  outside. 

Elena  brou^-ht  out  a  beautiful  lace  dress  that 
Tacita's  mother  had  left  behind  her  on  going  out 
into  the  world.  It  was  of  pillow  lace  woven  in 
stripes,  and  made  over  a  soft  silk  in  broad  stripes 
of  rose  and  cream-color.  Dressed  in  it,  Tacita 
looked  like  a  blush  rose. 

They  set  out  for  her  first  assembly  at  early  twi- 
light. Lights  in  the  houses  showed  them  the  way, 
there  was  a  sound  of  violins  in  the  dewy  air,  and 
figures  flitting  in  the  dance-room,  and  outside  a 
number  of  persons  were  dancing  gayly  in  the  light 
that  shone  from  the  building. 

"Our  people  are  much  given  to  dancing,"  Elena 
said.  "And  we  have  the  most  beautiful  and  com- 
plex fancy  dances  in  the  world." 

They  went  up  a  winding  stair,  that  started  in  a 
lower  angle  and  ended  in  a  terrace,  from  which  a 
wide  arched  door  opened  into  the  salon,  showing  the 
glittering  walls,  the  full  light,  the  tossing  fountain 
in  its  lightly  shadowed  seclusion,  the  silken  curtain 
of  the  opposite  boudoir,  and  a  company  almost  fill- 
ing the  room. 

The  music  came  softened  from  below,  allowing 
the  voices  to  be  heard. 

Dylar  and  lona  met  the  two  as  they  entered,  and 
Tacita  found  herself  in  the  midst  of  the  most  cul- 
tivated and  charming  company  she  had  ever  seen. 
But  for  their  costume,  they  would  not  at  first  have 


SAN  SALVADOR.  107 

seemed  different  from  any  other  gathering  of  well- 
bred  people  who  meet  with  pleasure  a  welcome 
guest;  but  the  stranger  soon  felt  in  their  greeting 
the  difference  between  mere  courtesy  and  sincere 
affection.  It  w^as  a  repetition  of  the  heart-warming 
phrase  that  told  her  she  was  "in  her  father's 
house." 

The  costumes  gave  an  air  of  romance  and  unre- 
ality to  the  scene.  As  Tacita  looked  about  with  a 
pleased  wonder,  these  figures  suggested  Arcadian 
groves,  Olympian  slopes,  or  some  old  palace  garden 
shut  in  by  high  walls,  with  fragrant  hedges  of 
laurel  and  myrtle  over-showered  by  roses,  with  a 
blush  of  oleanders  against  a  mossy  fountain,  the 
dim  stars  of  a  passion-vine  hung  over  a  sequestered 
arbor,  and  crumbling  forms  of  nymphs,  lichen- 
spotted  in  the  sunshine.  These  figures  would  have 
harmonized  with  such  scenes  perfectly. 

On  the  green  velvet  divan  sat  several  old  men 
and  women  who  wore  long  white  robes  of  fine  wool 
with  silken  girdles.  All  the  younger  ladies  wore 
the  same  straight  robe,  made  in  various  colors, 
with  silken  fringed  sashes,  and  fine  lace  at  the  neck 
and  wrists.  Some  wore  lace  robes  like  Tacita' s. 
A  few  had  strings  of  pearls;  but  no  other  jewels 
were  visible. 

The  gentlemen,  on  the  contrary,  seemed  much 
more  gayly  dressed  than  in  any  other  modern  so- 
ciety. Their  costumes  were  all  rather  dark  in 
color  and  without  ornament ;  but  the  silver  buckles 
on  their  shoes  and  the  silver  badge  on  the  turban 


108  SAN  SALVADOR. 

cap  which  each  one  carried  in  his  hand,  or  under 
his  arm,  brightened  the  effect,  and  they  all  wore 
lace  ruffles  at  the  wrists  and  laced  cravats.  Dylar 
wore  violet  color,  and  a  silver  fillet  round  his 
cap. 

Of  the  more  than  a  hundred  persons  present,  all 
but  the  youngest  had  been  outside,  and  spoke  other 
lan2:uao:es  than  their  own.  Some  were  natives  of 
San  Salvador  living  outside,  and  returned  but  for  a 
time.  Tacita  found  herself  charmingly  at  home 
with  them. 

After  a  while  D3  lar  drew  her  apa^t,  and  they 
seated  themselves  in  a  boudoir. 

"You  will  observe  the  absence  of  jewels  in  our 
dress,"  he  said.  "This  is  only  our  ordinary  way 
of  meeting;  but  there  is  no  occasion  on  which 
gems  are  worn  here  as  elsewhere.  With  us  they 
have  a  meaning.  Diamonds  are  consecrated  to  the 
Basilica.  Other  stones  are  used  as  decorations  for 
some  distinguished  act  or  acquirement.  The  ruby 
is  for  an  act  of  heroic  courage,  the  topaz  for  dis- 
covery, the  emerald  for  invention.  Pearls  are 
worn  only  by  young  girls  and  by  brides  at  their 
wedding.  When  you  marry,  we  will  hang  pearls 
on  you  in  a  snow-drift." 

He  bent  a  little  arid  smiled  into  her  face. 

Tacita  blushed,  but  made  no  reply  immediately. 
A  feeling  of  melancholy  settled  upon  her.  Could 
it  be  that  she  would  be  expected  to  marry  ?  — 
and  that  he  would  wish  to  select  a  husband  for 
her  ? 


SAN  SALVADOR.  109 

"Elena  does  not  marry,  and  lona  is  not  yet  mar- 
ried," she  said  after  a  silence. 

"Oh,  there  is  perfect  freedom,"  said  Dylar. 
"But  lona  is  only  twenty-six  and  Elena  scarcely 
over  forty  years  of  age.  Both  may  marry  yet. 
Now  there  is  a  gentleman  coming  in  who  wishes 
very  much  to  see  you.  He  has  just  come  from 
England,  and  will  return  in  a  few  days.  Shall  I 
call  him?  " 

She  consented  cordially,  and  Dylar  beckoned  the 
young  man  to  them,  and  having  presented  him,  re- 
tired and  left  the  two  together.  A  moment  later 
she  saw  him  go  out  with  lona  by  the  way  leading 
upstairs.  They  were  going  either  to  the  library 
or  terrace. 

How  well  they  looked  together,  though  lona  was 
almost  as  tall  as  Dylar.  She  wore  amber-color  that 
evening,  which  became  her,  and  her  cheeks  were 
crimson,  her  eyes  brilliant.  For  a  little  while 
Tacita  had  some  difficulty  in  attending  to  what  her 
new  companion  was  saying,  and  in  making  the 
proper  replies.  Then  something  in  his  manner 
pleased  her,  and  drew  her  from  her  abstraction. 

He  was  simply  a  well-bred  young  Englishman  in 
a  sort  of  masquerade,  which,  however,  became  him 
wonderfully.  He  had  hair  as  golden  as  her  own, 
and  he  wore  dark  blue.  While  talking  with  him, 
Tacita,  woman-like,  looked  at  the  wide  lace  ruffle 
that  fell  back  on  his  sleeve.  It  had  a  ground  of 
fairy  lightness,  a  vrai  reseau  as  strong  as  it  was 
light,  with  little  wide-winged  swallows  all  over  it 


110  SAN  SALVADOR. 

in  a  fine  close  tela,  with  a  few  open  stitches  in  the 
head  and  wings.  She  wondered  where  she  had 
read  of  swallows  that 

—  ' '  hawked  the  bright  flies  in  the  hollows 
Of  delicate  air." 

"Yon  are  admiring  my  ruffles,"  the  young  man 
said  with  the  greatest  frankness.  "They  were 
made  here,  and  belonged  to  my  father.  I  have 
refused  a  good  deal  of  money  for  them.  Of  course 
you  have  learned  that  they  make  beautiful  lace 
here.  I  think  it  the  finest  lace  made  in  the  world, 
taking  it  all  in  all.  Look  at  that  dress  of  yours, 
now.  How  firm  and  clear  it  is!  That's  pillow 
lace,  though,  and  this  is  point.  There  's  a  kind 
of  cobweb  ground  to  some  rare  Alencon  point  that 
is  wonderful  as  work  ;  but  joii  don't  dare  to  touch 
it.  I  've  seen  a  fine  jabot  belonging  to  one  of  the 
Bonaparte  princes,  and  worn  by  him  at  a  royal  mar- 
riage. You  '11  sometimes  see  as  good  a  border  of 
medallions  as  that  had,  but  not  such  a  centre,  lighter 
than  blonde.  It  was  scattered  over  with  bees  that 
had  only  alighted.  Each  wing  was  a  little  button- 
hole-stitched loop  with  a  tiny  open  star  inside.  As 
Si  jabot  it  could  be  woi-n;  but  as  ruffles,  you  would 
have  to  keep  your  hands  clasped  together  over  the 
top  of  your  head." 

The  young  man  proposed  after  a  while  that  they 
should  go  up  and  see  the  library,  and  Tacita  some- 
what shrinkingly  consented. 

"If  Dylar  should  be  there,  I  hope  he  will  not 
believe  that  I  followed  him! "  she  thought. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  HI 

He  was  not  there.  The  large  room  was  quiet  and 
deserted.  Shaded  lamps  burned  on  the  green-cov- 
ered tables,  folds  of  green  silk  were  drawn  back 
from  two  lofty  windows  closed  only  with  casements 
of  wire  gauze.  Globes,  stands  of  maps,  movable 
book- rests,  and  cases  of  books  of  reference  were  all 
about.  From  the  stairway  and  through  the  open 
windows  the  hum  of  conversation  came  softened  to 
a  hum  of  bees,  the  sound  of  viols  from  the  dance- 
room  was  a  quivering  web  of  silver,  and  the  feet  of 
the  dancers  did  not  make  the  least  tremor  in  the 
firmly  set  walls. 

''The  library  is  not  a  very  large  one,  you  see," 
said  Tacita's  guide.  "It  is  nearly  as  much  weeded 
as  added  to.  It  is  surprising  how  much  literature 
thought  to  be  original  is  found  out  to  be  only  a 
turn  of  the  kaleidoscope.  I  won't  quote  Solomon 
to  you." 

"My  grandfather,"  Tacita  said,  "used  to  say 
that  one  folio  would  contain  all  the  thouohts  of 
mankind  that  are  worth  preserving,  and  ten  all  the 
commentaries  worth  making  on  them." 

"This  is  the  way  they  condense  here,"  said  her 
companion.  "For  necessarily  San  Salvador  must 
be  a  city  of  abridgments.  Say  that  ten  authors 
write  on  some  one  subject  worthy  of  attention. 
The  best  one  is  selected  and  then  interleaved  with 
extracts  from  the  others.  To  this  is  added  a  brief 
notice  of  the  authors  quoted.  It 's  a  good  deal 
of  work  for  one  person  to  do ;  but  it  saves  the  time 
of  everybody  else  who  has  to  read  on  the  subject." 


112  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Returning  to  the  Salon  they  found  that  Dylar 
and  lona  had  come  down  from  the  terrace,  and  some 
boys  were  carrying  about  cups  of  a  pleasant  drink 
that  seemed  to  be  milk  boiled,  sweetened,  and  deli- 
cately spiced. 

"lona  must  take  you  up  to-morrow  night  to 
look  at  Venus,"  Dylar  said.  "It  is  very  beauti- 
ful now." 

The  bells  rang  ten  o'clock,  the  signal  for  going 
home,  and  they  went  down  stairs.  Dylar  took 
leave  at  the  door ;  but  the  young  Englishman  asked 
permission  to  accompany  Tacita  and  Elena  to  their 
door.  The  music  had  ceased  in  the  dance-room, 
and  the  lights  were  half  extinguished ;  but  the  last 
couples  came  out  still  dancing,  humming  a  tune, 
and,  hand  in  hand,  danced  homeward. 

"You  w^ill  like  to  see  our  fancy  dances,"  Elena 
said.  "Some  of  them  are  very  dramatic.  There 
is  a  good  deal  of  grace  and  precision  in  them,  but 
no  parade  of  agility.  I  know  nothing  more  dis- 
gusting than  the  flesh  and  muscle  exhibition  of  the 
ordinary  ballet.  Some  of  our  dances  require  quite 
as  much  command  of  muscle,  but  there  must  be  no 
eifect  of  effort.  To  see  a  woman  gracefully  draped 
float  like  a  cloud  is  quite  as  wonderful  as  to  see  her 
half  naked  and  leaping  like  a  frog.  We  have  a 
Sun-dance,  with  the  whole  solar  system :  and  I  as- 
sure you  the  moons  have  to  be  as  nimble-footed  as 
the  chulos  of  a  bidl-fight.  The  Zodiac  dance  is 
more  like  a  minuet  in  time.  There  are  twelve 
groups  which  keep  always  the  same  position  with 


SAN  SALVADOR.  Hg 

regard  to  each  other;  but  the  whole  circle  slowly 
revolves,  having  two  motions,  one  progressive,     ft 
is  a  science,  and  requires  a  good  deal  of  practice, 
lona  used  to  be  the  lost  Pleiad,  and  wandered  about 
veiled,  threading  the  whole  maze,  but  never  finding 
her  place.     Of  course  all  are  in  costume;  and  it  is 
an  out-door  dance,  occupying  the  whole  Square. 
Her  part  was  like  some  little  thing  of  Chopin's, 
plaintive,  searching,  and  unanswered." 
^^  When  the  two  had  gone  up  stairs,  Elena  said: 
"Do  you  think  that  you  would  ever  be  willing  to 
marry  the  young  man  who  came  home  with  us'' to- 
night?" 

"Oh,   no!"  Tacita  exclaimed.      "What  should 
put  it  into  your  mind  ?  " 

"  He  wished  me  to  ask  you.  I  thought  that  it 
was  vain ;  but  I  promised  to  ask.  If  there  is  the 
least  chance,  he  will  stay  longer.  If  not,  he  will 
go  to-morrow.  He  has  long  known  you  by  reputa- 
tion, and  he  admired  you  at  sight." 
^  "There  is  not  the  least  chance,"  Tacita  said  de- 
cidedly, and  wondered  why  she  should  feel  so  angry 
and  pained. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

The  next  day  they  went  to  visit  the  girls'  school. 

The  Arcade  was  built  around  and  above  a  prom- 
ontory of  rock,  the  stories  following  it  in  receding 
terraces,  and  the  wings  following  backward  at 
either  side,  so  that  the  effect  from  a  little  distance 
was  that  of  an  irregular  pyramid  with  a  truncated 
top. 

There  was  a  narrow  vale  and  a  green  slope  be- 
hind one  side,  where  the  children  played  on  that 
first  evening  of  Tacita's  in  San  Salvador;  and  here 
they  had  their  gardens  cultivated  by  themselves, 
their  out-door  studies  and  recitation -rooms  and 
play-ground.  Thick  walls,  sewing-rooms,  quiet 
study-rooms,  and  rooms  where  the  little  ones  had 
their  midday  nap  interposed  to  keep  every  sound 
of  this  army  of  girls  from  that  part  of  the  building 
used  as  a  hotel,  or  home,  for  single  ladies. 

Going  from  her  quiet  apartment  to  that  full  and 
busy  hive  was  to  Tacita  like  going  into  another 
world.  In  its  crowd  and  bustle  and  variety  it  was 
more  like  the  outside  world  than  anything  that  she 
had  yet  seen. 

In  one  room  two  or  three  children  were  lying  in 
hammocks  asleep.  Out  on  the  green  a  group  of 
them    seated    on   a  carpet    were   picking   painted 


SAN  SALVADOE.  115 

letter-blocks  out  of  a  heap,  and  discussing  tlieir 
names.  A  girl  a  few  years  older,  sitting  near 
them  with  her  sewing,  corrected  their  mistakes. 
One  lovely  girl  had  a  little  one  on  her  knee  who 
was  reading  a  pictured  story-book  aloud.  A  larger 
girl  sat  apart  writing  a  composition,  dragging  out 
her  thoughts  with  contortions,  like  a  Pythoness  on 
her  tripod.  In  some  rooms  were  young  ladies 
engaged  in  study,  writing,  or  recitation.  There 
was  a  printing-room,  with  type-setters  and  proof- 
readers, where  one  of  the  girls  gave  Tacita  a  little 
book  of  their  printing  and  binding. 

Everywhere  were  texts  and  proverbs  on  the 
walls  and  doors,  white  letters  on  a  blue  ground ; 
and  there  was  a  throne-room  where  the  little  gilded 
chair  was  filled  with  flowers  for  the  children's  in- 
fant king.  Underneath  was  a  picture  of  the  three 
Magi  kneeling  to  the  Child  Jesus.  This  was  in  a 
little  temple  on  the  hillside  with  a  laburnum-tree 
bending  over  it  full  of  golden  flower-tassels. 

"When  they  have  acquired  the  rudiments  of 
learning,"  lona  said,  "we  give  them  a  touch  all 
round,  almost  as  if  without  meaning  it,  to  find 
the  keynote  of  their  powers.  It  is  done  chiefly  by 
lectures.  Ladies  and  gentlemen  who  have  read 
much,  or  traveled  much,  write  short  essays  which 
they  read  in  school.  If  no  child  shows  a  special 
interest  in  the  subject,  we  let  it  go.  Our  object  is 
to  give  talent  an  opportunity,  and  also  to  waste  no 
time  and  effort  where  they  will  meet  with  no  return. 

"All  the  accounts  of  the  town  are  kept  in  the 


11(3  SAN  SALVADOH. 

schools,  and  well  kept.  It  saves  a  great  deal  of 
work.  The  kitchen  accounts,  for  instance,  are  im- 
mense and  complicated ;  yet  they  are  gleefully  and 
painstakingly  smoothed  into  order  by  those  busy 
young  brains  and  fingers.  Promotion  from  one 
class  of  these  accounts  to  another  is  taken  great 
pride  in.  For  instance,  the  girl  who  is  '  in  the 
salt, '  as  they  say,  looks  with  admiring  envy  on  the 
girl  who  is  in  the  wheat,  the  fruit,  or  the  meat. 
They  are  also  taught  to  cook  a  few  simple  dishes. 
For  that  they  go  to  the  kitchens.  They  all  dress 
alike,  as  you  see,  and  there  is  no  difference  made 
in  any  way.  Even  the  genius,  if  we  find  one,  is 
not  taught  to  set  her  gift  above  that  of  the  most 
homely  usefulness . ' ' 

As  the  visitors  went  away,  a  golden -haired  girl 
of  ten  or  twelve  years  shyly  offered  Tacita  a  white 
rose  half  opened,  touched  the  fringes  of  her  sash 
with  timid  finger-tips  and  touched  the  fingers  to 
her  lips. 

Her  delicate  homage  was  rewarded  with  a  kiss 
on  the  forehead.  And,  "Please  tell  me  your  name, 
dear  child!  "  said  Tacita. 

The  little  girl  blushed  all  over  her  face  with  a 
modest  delight,  as  she  whispered  "Leila!  " 

"My  recollections  of  school  are  all  pleasant, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  shai-p  lessons  given 
me  there,"  Elena  said,  "I  well  remember  one  I 
received  from  Dylar  the  Eighth,  father  of  our 
Dylar.  I  was  one  day  sent  on  an  errand  which 
obliged  me  to  go  through  the  large  dining-room 


SAN  SALVADOB.  117 

where  we  eat  now,  and  I  saw  a  magnificent  peach 
there  on  the  sideboard.  I  could  not  know  that  it 
was  the  first  and  finest  of  a  rare  sort,  and  that 
Dylar  himself,  who  was  in  another  part  of  the 
house,  had  left  it  there  in  passing,  and  was  com- 
ing again  to  take  it  out  for  exhibition.  But  I  did 
know  that  we  were  never  to  help  ourselves  to  any- 
thing to  eat  without  permission,  and  that  I  had 
no  right  ever  to  take  anything  there.  The  peach 
tempted  me,  and  I  did  eat.  I  was  looking  about 
for  some  place  where  I  might  hide  the  stone,  when 
the  Prince  returned.  He  went  at  once  to  the  side- 
board, then  turned  and  looked  at  me.  No  words 
were  needed  to  show  my  guilt.  I  stood  speechless- 
in  an  agony  of  shame. 

"  The  Prince  looked  at  me  one  awful  moment  in 
silence.  Then  he  took  me  by  the  hand  quite  gently, 
and  led  me  to  the  room  that  has  the  commandments 
of  God  on  the  walls,  and  pointed  to  the  words, 
'Thou  shalt  not  steal.' 

"He  stood  a  moment  beside  me  while  I  trem- 
bled, and  began  to  sob,  then  laid  his  hand,  so 
gently,  on  my  head,  and  went  away  without  a 
word.  My  dear,  it  was  the  most  effective  sermon 
I  ever  heard.  You  observe  there  was  no  soj)histry 
used.  It  was  stealing.  It  was  many  a  long  dav 
before  I  could  eat  a  peach  without  feeling  as  if  I 
had  swallowed  the  stone. 

"The  next  time  the  Prince  came,  I  ran  weeping 
to  kiss  the  fringe  of  his  sash,  and  he  kissed  my 
cheek,  and  whispered,  'Don't  grieve  so,  little  one! 


118  SAN  SALVADOIL 

Forget  all  about  it !  '  From  that  day  to  this  I 
loved  Dylar  above  all  earthly  things.  He  was 
forty  years  old  and  I  was  ten ;  yet  he  was  the  one 
man  in  the  world  to  me  from  that  day." 

While  talking  they  had  gone  out,  and  were 
walkinsf  northward  in  the  outside  road  on  their 
way  to  see  the  kitchens.  It  was  a  paved  street  of 
very  irregular  width.  One  side  was  bounded  by 
the  straight  line  of  the  river  parapet.  The  other, 
narrowed  to  ten  feet  in  width  between  the  Arcade 
and  the  bridge,  widened  sometimes  to  a  rod  or 
two.  And  everywhere  above  were  gardens,  cot- 
tages, steep  paths  and  stairs,  down-falling  streams 
and  trees  single,  or  grouped,  or  scattered. 

In  one  of  the  amphitheatres  thus  formed  was  a 
semicircle  of  small  shops,  each  with  a  wide  awning 
covering  an  outside  counter.  The  goods  were  kept 
inside,  and  brought  out  as  called  for.  A  man  or 
woman  sat  under  the  awning  before  each  shop. 
One  was  knitting,  another  was  making  pillow  lace ; 
the  man  was  making  netting,  and  having  but  his 
right  hand,  the  peg  had  been  fastened  to  his  left 
wrist,  and  he  threw  the  cord  in  position  for  the 
knot  as  rapidly  as  if  the  air  were  fingers  to  hold  it. 

The  kitchens  were  set  high  above  the  plain  on 
the  eastern  side  of  a  deep  ravine  running  north- 
ward. Long  buildings  of  only  one  story  with  at- 
tics were  surrounded  by  orchards,  gardens,  and 
poultry -yards.  There  was  a  laundry,  and  countless 
lines  of  clothes  out  in  the  sun.  There  was  a  bak- 
ery.    Beneath  these  buildings  were  the  wine-caves, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  119 

and  the  rooms  for  j^ressing  the  grapes.  Farther 
up,  on  a  rapid  stream  that  came  down  and  disap- 
peared under  the  pavement,  was  a  little  mill. 

"It  looks  small,"  Elena  said;  "but  all  the  wool 
that  makes  our  dresses  is  woven  there.  Our  silk 
webs  we  bring  from  outside,  though  we  have  a 
small  silk  farm;  but  we  raise  all  our  own  wool. 
The  silk  we  use  for  sashes  and  for  hosiery.  We 
send  out  silk  hose,  lace,  and  carved  olive-wood. 

"And  now,  my  dear,  you  are  to  see  the  folly  of 
individual  domestic  cooking,  and  the  wisdom  of 
having  public  kitchens,  if  they  are  properly  con- 
ducted. And  at  this  moment  you  see  coming  to 
meet  us  one  of  the  chief  supports  of  our  system. 
If  we  had  not  a  lady  of  good  taste  and  administra- 
tive capacity  to  matronize  our  kitchens,  they  might 
deteriorate,  or  fail.  If  even  such  a  lady  were  al- 
ways there,  she  might  sometimes  grow  weary  and 
careless ;  but  with  a  short  term  for  each,  there  is 
always  the  sense  of  novelty  and  emulation  to  keep 
them  up  to  the  mark." 

It  was  a  very  pleasant  presentation  of  a  lady  who 
stood  in  the  door  to  receive  them,  with  a  square  of 
white  net  tied,  turban-wise,  around  her  head,  and 
a  snowy  bib-apron  over  her  cotton  dress. 

"You  do  not  remember  me,"  she  said,  smiling 
at  Tacita's  intent  gaze.  "No  wonder.  You  saw 
so  many  strangers  last  night.  Besides,  my  hair 
was  not  covered  then,  and  I  wore  a  silk  dress." 

It  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  ladies  whom 
she  had  met  at  the  assembly. 


120  SAN  SALVADOE. 

They  went  through  the  buiklings  that  constituted 
ahnost  a  village.  It  was  the  very  paradise  o£  a 
cooking  colony,  in  plenty^  order,  and  cleanliness. 
There  were  no  silver  saucepans  tied  with  rose -col- 
ored ribbons;  but  Marie  Antoinette  might  have 
gone  there  and  made  a  cuj^  of  chocolate  or  cooked 
an  omelette,  without  soiling  her  fair  fingers,  or  her 
dainty  high-heeled  shoes. 

The  economy,  too,  was  perfect.  There  were 
central  roasting  fires  on  elevated  hearths,  with  a 
tunnel-shaped  sheet-iron  chimney  let  down  over 
them  where  a  circle  of  tin  kitchens  and  spits  could 
surround  them,  losing  no  heat ;  and  there  were  lines 
of  charcoal  furnaces  set  in  tiles  under  great  sheet- 
iron  hoods. 

"  We  do  not  waste  a  bit  of  coal  as  large  as  a  wal- 
nut, nor  a  twig  of  wood  that  a  bird  could  alight 
on,"  the  Directress  said.  "For  the  food,  not  the 
least  important  part  of  our  establishment  is  the 
fragment  kitchen." 

"Elena,  when  shall  I  come  and  learn  to  cook 
something?"  Tacita  asked  as  they  went  away. 

Her  friend  laughed.  "You  find  it  fascinating, 
then!  I  shall  have  to  make  you  begin  at  school. 
You  did  not  see  the  preparatory  department  there. 
It  is  a  sight,  when  they  are  busy  for  an  hour  every 
morning,  chopping  meat,  picking  raisins,  husking 
corn,  shelling  peas,  picking  over  coffee  or  rice, 
doing,  in  short,  any  preparatory  work  that  the 
cooks  might  need.  Sometimes  they  have  half  an 
hour   of  such  work   in   the  afternoon.      It  would, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  121 

perhaps,   interest  you  more  than  to  see  them  at 
their  books." 

"I  have  often  thought,"  Tacita  said,  "that  if 
we  could  sometimes  stop  and  watch  the  artisan  at 
his  work,  we  might  find  it  interesting.  They  know 
so  many  things  that  the  idle  do  not  suspect.  1  es- 
pecially like  builders  of  houses  and  monuments. 
There  is  so  much  of  poetry  and  religion  in  their 
work." 

"The  artists  who  painted  the  affrescos  in  the 
Basilica  learned  cooking  first,"  Elena  said.  "It  is 
recorded  of  them  that  they  were  very  promising 
cooks,  and  came  near  spending  their  lives  in  the 
kitchens.  One  day  a  gentleman  observed  them 
arranging  some  fruit  and  vegetables  with  a  very 
artistic  sense  of  color,  and  one  of  them  showed 
him  a  butterfly  he  had  painted  with  vegetable 
juices  and  bits  of  mica.  One  thing  led  to  another. 
Paint-boxes  and  paper  were  given  them,  and  they 
took  fire.  They  were  sent  out  to  study.  The 
landscape ,  painter  had  a  fame  in  the  world,  and 
died  there.  The  one  who  painted  the  insects,  flow- 
ers, and  animals,  returned  to  San  Salvador  after  a 
few  years,  and  never  went  away  again.  He  taught 
here.  The  schools  were  then  started.  Did  you 
see  the  ant-hill  in  those  frescos?  It  is  in  the  lower 
left  corner,  just  above  Solomon's  text:  'Go  to  the 
ant,  thou  sluggard!  '  An  acanthus  leaf  half  covers 
it.  But  there  are  the  little  grains  of  sand  perfect, 
and  the  ants  running  with  their  building  materials. 
In  one  place  two  ants  are  carrying  a  stick,  one  at 


122  -S.'liV  SALVADOR. 

each  end  of  it.  It  is  a  little  gem.  They  recorded 
of  this  man  that  it  was  his  delight  to  search  out 
microscopic  beauties  that  no  one  else  had  seen. 
One  said  that  he  could  intoxicate  himself  with  a 
drop  of  dew.  Ah,  how  many  a  Psyche  of  beautiful 
wings  withers  away  in  a  dull  imprisonment  because 
no  Love  has  sought  her  out  I  It  does  not  even 
know  why  it  suffers,  nor  what  it  wants.  What  an 
escape  little  Giotto  had!  What  would  have  been 
his  after-life  if  Cimabue  had  not  paused  to  see 
what  the  shepherd  boy  had  drawn  with  chalk  on 
that  rough  piece  of  slate!  " 

"Only  a  little  before  coming  here,"  Tacita  said, 
"I  came  upon  a  sentence  in  a  book  regarding 
Giotto  and  the  little  church  of  Santa  Maria  dell' 
Arena,  of  which  he  was  both  architect  and  painter. 
The  writer  said:  'Dante  lodged  with  Giotto  while 
the  works  were  in  progress.'  Dante  lodged  with 
Giotto!  If  I  had  been  there,  I  would  have  put 
rose-petals  inside  their  pillow-cases.  I  once  saw 
an  old  picture  with  a  portrait  of  Giotto  in  it.  He 
was  dark-haired  and  bright-eyed,  and  he  was 
dressed  all  in  white  and  gold,  with  a  hooded  man- 
tle. The  hood  was  up  over  his  head,  showing  only 
a  profile.  He  looked  like  a  rose,  and  seemed  full 
of  spirit  and  gladness.  I  hope  that  the  picture  was 
authentic." 

"Yes,"  said  Elena  with  a  sigh,  "give  them  rose- 
petals,  those  whom  the  world  showers  with  laurel. 
It  is  well.  They  also  need  sympathy.  But  my 
thought   turns  ever  backward   to  the  uncrowned, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  123 

the  unpraised !  My  dear,  I  have  gone  among  the 
unknown  of  many  lands,  and  I  have  found  among 
them  such  vision -seeing  pathetic  eyes  in  persons 
whose  lives  were  condennied  to  the  commonplace 
and  the  material  that  I  hold  him  who  can  express 
himself  at  his  best  to  his  fellow-man  to  be  happy, 
even  if  he  has  to  die  for  it.  True,  to  the  second 
sight,  there  is  much  of  beauty  in  common  things. 
But  a  person  born  with  an  ideal  sense  of  beauty, 
and  a  vague  longing  to  be,  or  to  enjoy  something 
excellent,  naturally  does  not  look  for  it  in  poverty 
and  ignorance.  Let  us  observe  our  contemporaries, 
my  dear.  Perhaps  we  may  discover  where  we  least 
expect  it  the  motionless  eyeballs  of  some  impris- 
oned and  disguised  immortal.  How  happy  we,  if 
ours  should  be  the  first  voice  to  hail  such  with  an 
Ave!" 

When  Tacita  was  alone,  she  examined  the  little 
book  given  her  at  the  school.  It  w^as  only  a  behav- 
ior book  for  the  pupils ;  but  it  contained  some  rules 
not  found  elsewhere. 

"When  you  are  in  the  street,  do  not  stop  to 
speak  to  any  one  you  may  meet  without  an  errand 
which  makes  it  necessary,  if  it  should  be  before 
supper,  and  do  not  stop  at  all  unless  your  first 
movement  toward  the  person  should  be  responded 
to  with  an  appearance  of  welcome. 

"Do  not  go  to  any  person's  house  unless  an  er- 
rand compel  you  to;  go  and  then,  your  business 
done  promptly,  take  leave  at  once,  but  without 
hurrying,  even  if  invited  to  stay. 


124  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"If  at  the  assembly  you  see  two  or  more  per- 
sons conversing  apart,  do  not  approach  them  nn- 
less  called,  nor  look  at  them  as  if  expecting  a  call. 
It  is  proper  to  pass  them  without  saluting.  Never 
approach  an  alcove  which  is  occupied. 

'"When  kissing  the  sash  of  one  whom  you  wish 
to  salute,  be  sure  that  your  hands  are  quite  clean, 
and  then  touch  only  the  fringe,  which  is  easily  re- 
newed. To  touch  the  fringe  and  then  carry  your 
fingers  to  your  lips  would  be  better." 

A  page  called  "The  Five  Classes  "  reminded  the 
reader  somewhat  in  its  style  of  that  high-minded 
and  gentlemanly,  if  rather  Turveydropish  philoso- 
pher, Confucius :  — 

"1.  We  begin  our  studies  by  acknowledging  that 
our  teachers  know  more  than  we,  and  that  we  have 
much  to  learn ;  and  then  we  have  the  wisdom  of  our 
age,  and  may  be  agreeable  to  the  well-instructed. 

"2.  We  acquire  the  rudiments  of  a  few  studies, 
and  begin  to  think  that  we  may  soon  know  a  great 
deal;  and  we  are  still  tolerable  to  the  well-in- 
structed. 

"3.  We  progress  till  we  have  a  superficial  know- 
ledge of  several  subjects;  and  then  we  are  liable 
to  think  ourselves  so  wise  that  we  become  disgust- 
ing to  the  well-instructed. 

"4.  We  go  a  great  deal  farther,  and  if  we 
have  good  sense,  we  perceive  our  own  ignorance, 
and  are  ashamed  of  our  past  presumption;  and 
then  we  begin  to  win  the  respect  of  the  well-in- 
structed. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  125 

"5.  We  progress  farther  and  deeper,  studying 
with  modesty  and  assiduity ;  and  after  many  years 
we  learn  that  there  is  an  ocean  of  wisdom  to  which 
all  that  we  could  acquire  in  a  thousand  years  is  as 
a  drop  of  water ;  and  then  we  are  ourselves  on  the 
road  to  be  one  of  the  well-instructed." 

"It  isn't  a  useless  lesson  for  any  one  to  commit 
to  memory,"  she  thought,  closing  the  book. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

"It  would  be  a  great  helj)  to  me  if  I  could  hear 
the  language  spoken  in  a  longer  discourse,  so  as  to 
get  the  swing  of  it,"  Taeita  said  one  day  to  lona, 
after  having  taken  a  lesson  of  her.  "In  conversa- 
tion all  my  attention  is  occupied  in  listening  to  the 
sound  of  the  words,  and  thinking  of  their  meaning." 

"You  can  have  to-morrow  just  what  you  want," 
her  teacher  said.  "Some  of  the  college  boys  go 
up  to  Professor  Pearlstein's  cottage  with  their  com- 
positions. He  criticises  both  style  and  thought. 
Some  of  the  compositions,  if  not  all,  will  be  in  San 
Salvadorian.  They  will  go  up  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  When  you  see  them  come  across 
the  town,  follow  them.  You  can  do  so  freely.  My 
brother  Ion  is  one  of  the  boys ;  and  I  sometimes  go 
up  to  hear  them.  The  cottage  is  a  little  above  the 
Arcade,  toward  the  north,  and  has  a  red  roof. 
Half  way  up,  the  pathway  branches.  Turn  to  the 
right,  and  you  will  come  to  a  little  boudoir  in  the 
rocks  from  which  you  can  hear  perfectly." 

The  next  morning,  therefore,  Taeita  followed  the 
boys  as  directed,  and  presently  found  herself  in  a 
charming  mossy  nook  with  a  roof,  a*nd  a  thick 
grapevine  hanging  between  her  and  the  little 
terrace  where  the  professor  sat  before  his  cottage 


SAN  SALVADOB.  127 

door  with  half  a  dozen  boys  in  a  semicircle  before 
him. 

Professor  Pearlstein  \fas  a  striking  figure.  His 
handsome  face  was  calm  and  pallid,  his  hair  and 
beard  were  white;  and  he  wore  a  long  robe  of 
white  wool  with  a  scarlet  sash,  and  a  scarlet  skull- 
cap like  a  cardinal's.  He  was  carefull}"  dressed, 
even  to  the  scarlet  straps  of  his  russet  sandals ;  and 
an  air  of  peace  and  orderliness  hung  like  a  perfume 
about  him  and  his  small  domain. 

Tacita,  screened  by  her  vine-leaves,  listened  for 
half  an  hour,  eager  to  catch  the  thoughts  through 
the  veil  of  this  beautiful  language  which  was  so 
sonorous  and  so  musical,  and  was  spoken  with  lit- 
tle motions  of  head,  throat,  and  shoulders,  like  a 
singing  bird. 

Then  a  boy  addressed  his  master  in  French. 

"I  considered  the  ways  of  a  tree,"  he  said,  hold- 
ing his  manuscript  in  baud,  but  without  looking  at 
it.  ''  As  soon  as  the  seed  wakes,  it  sends  out  two 
shoots.  One  goes  down  into  the  dark  earth,  seek- 
ing to  fix  itself  firmly  and  find  nourishment.  The 
other  rises  into  the  light,  putting  up  two  little 
leaves,  like  praying  hands,  laid  palm  to  palm. 
The  root  searches  in  that  chemical  laboratory, 
which  is  the  earth,  and  is  itself  a  chemist,  and  the 
tree  sucks  up  its  ichor,  and  increases.  The  tree 
also  searches  for  food  and  color  in  sun  and  air. 
The  root  feels  the  ever  increasing  weight  which 
rests  upon  it,  and  clings  hard  to  rocks,  and  strikes 
deeper  when  it  feels  the  strain  of  a  storm  in  its 


128  SAN  SALVADOR. 

fibres.  It  does  not  know  what  the  sun  is,  except 
as  an  unknown  power  that  sends  a  gentle  warmth 
down  into  the  dark,  and  "calls  its  juices  upward. 
It  does  not  know  that  of  the  particles  of  air  which 
here  and  there  give  it  such  a  delicate  touch  as 
seems  a  miracle,  a  fathomless  and  boimdless  sea 
exists  above  where  all  its  gatherings  go  to  build  the 
tree.  It  does  not  know  what  beautiful  thing  it  is 
building  there,  all  flowers  and  fruit  and  rustling 
music.  It  crawls  and  gathers  with  the  worm  and 
the  ant,  obedient  to  the  law  of  its  being,  and  draws 
sweetness  out  of  corruption,  and  clasps  a  rock  for  a 
friend. 

"Master,  I  could  not  be  content  to  think  that 
there  is  no  more  than  this  visible  tree  to  reward 
such  labor,  and  that  anything  so  beautiful  as  the 
tree  should  be  meant  only  to  please  the  eye,  gratify 
the  palate,  and  then  return  to  chaos. 

"  May  there  not  be  yet  a  third  stage  of  this  crea- 
ture, some  indestructible  tree  of  Paradise,  all  ethe- 
real music,  perfume,  and  sweetness  ?  That  beauty 
would  be  not  in  its  mere  existence,  but  in  the  good 
that  it  has  done ;  in  the  shade  and  refreshment  it 
has  given  to  man ;  in  shelter  to  nestling  birds,  and 
to  all  the  little  wild  creatures  which  fly  to  it  for 
protection ;  in  the  music  of  its  playing  with  the 
breeze  and  with  the  tempest. 

"When  it  drops  off  the  perishable  part  which 
was  but  the  instrument  of  its  perfection,  the  hum- 
ble instinct  in  the  root  understands  at  last  for  what 
and  with  what  it  labored. 


.S^^"  SALVADOR.  129 

"I  remembered,  O  my  master,  that  we  in  the 
flesh  are  but  the  root  of  our  higher  selves,  our  sense 
feeding  our  intelligence,  which  works  visibly ;  while 
above  the  body  and  the  studious  mind  rises  some 
quintessence  of  intelligence  which  the  spark  of  life 
was  sent  to  elaborate  out  of  the  universe  on  which 
it  feeds,  a  being  all  pure,  all  beautiful,  which  at 
last  gathers  itself  up  into  the  liglit  of  Paradise, 
dropping  off  corruption." 

"The  picture-book  of  nature  has  given  thee  a 
fair  lesson,  Provence,"  said  Professor  Pearlstein, 
smiling  kindly  on  the  boy;  and  then,  with  a  few 
suggestions  and  verbal  corrections,  allowed  him  to 
resume  his  seat. 

Tacita  did  not  need  to  be  told  that  the  boy  who 
rose  next  was  lona's  brother.  He  was  gracefid 
and  proud-looking,  with  an  oval  olive  face,  black 
eyes  and  dark  hair  tossed  back  in  locks  that  had 
the  look  of  plumes.  He  spoke  in  Italian,  which  he 
pronounced  exquisitely,  with  fullness  and  delibera- 
tion. 

"  I  have  been  haunted  by  a  circle  and  a  whirling 
and  a  wheel,"  he  began,  looking  downward,  his 
head  slightly  bowed,  as  if  in  confusion.  '*I  meant 
to  draw  a  lesson  from  the  life  of  water.  But  when 
I  had  followed  a  drop  only  half  its  course,  a  great 
machine,  all  wheels  and  whirling,  caught  me  up 
and  tore  my  thoughts  to  fragments. 

"  I  remembered  having  read  somewhere  that  men 
and  women  are  but  the  separated  parts  of  wheel- 
shapes,  or  circles  which  had  been  their  united  form 


130  SAN  SALVADOB. 

in  a  more  perfect  state  of  being.  Then  I  saw  the 
Hindu  walking  seven  times  around  the  object  of 
his  sacred  love,  as  the  Mohammedan  at  the  Cordo- 
van Ceca,  till  his  footsteps  wear  a  pathway  in  the 
stone.  I  remembered  Plutarch's  story  of  the  siege 
of  Alesia.  When  the  city  had  to  capitulate,  the 
general  came  out  on  his  finest  charger  and  dressed 
in  his  finest  armor,  to  surrender  it.  He  rode  round 
and  round  the  tribune  on  which  sat  Caesar  with  his 
officers,  circled  round  and  round  them,  then  dis- 
mounted, disarmed  liimseK,  and  sat  down  silently  at 
Caesar's  feet.  That  revolution  had  some  meaning. 
I  remembered  the  whirling  dervish,  a  clod  with  a 
planetary  instinct,  and  the  Persian  hell  peopled 
with  beings  which  whirl  forever  in  a  ceaseless  cir- 
cle, whirling  and  circling,  the  right  hand  of  each 
pressed  to  his  burning  heart.  That  naturally  re- 
calls to  mind  the  strange  idea  that  the  planets  are 
sentient  beino:s,  whirlino;  forever  with  their  hearts 
on  fire,  like  those  accursed  ones  in  the  Hall  of 
Eblis. 

"The  planetary  idea  is  in  all  this  circling  and 
whirling. 

"All  the  old  nations  have  a  legend  of  some  great 
supernatural  battle  in  the  past,  where  rebel  and 
loyal  angels,  gods  and  Titans,  good  and  evil  spir- 
its fought  with  each  other.  Those  legends  must 
all  be  the  reflection  of  a  real  event.  I  have  won- 
dered if  Chaos  may  not  have  been  the  crash  and 
ruin  of  such  a  combat,  and  Creation,  as  we  have 
read  its  story,  a  restoration  only,  instead  of  being 


SAN  SALVADOR.  131 

the  original  establishment  of  order.  Is  not  all  this 
whirl  the  search  of  scattered  fragments  for  their 
supplementary  parts  ? 

"It  might  be,  then,  that  there  is  no  absolute  evil, 
but  only  an  evil  of  wrong  associations.  There 
are  substances,  as  chemists  know,  which  are  deadly 
in  some  combinations  and  wholesome  in  others. 
There  is  the  brute  creation,  which,  perhaps,  is  but 
a  false  humanity  unmasked.  Look  at  the  trees. 
Cut  down  an  oak-tree  and  a  pine-tree  grows  in  its 
place.  Why  not  say,  cut  down  a  cruel  man  and 
a  wolf  is  born?  And  from  that  wolf  downward 
through  fierce  and  gnawing  generations,  each  losing 
some  fang  and  fire,  what  wore  the  shape  of  man 
may  become  mud  again.  What  if  the  real  gran- 
deur of  Christ's  mission  may  have  been  to  release 
all  971671  of  good  ivill  from  this  primeval  expiation. 
First  comes  the  figure,  then  the  substance.  Let 
there  he  Light  1  said  the  Creator.  And  said 
Christ,  /  am  the  Light  of  the  world.  Shone  upon 
by  the  sun,  the  foul  and  hateful  may  produce  the 
exquisite.  From  mud  and  dung  we  have  the  lily 
and  the  rose.  From  this  divine  sun  shining  on  men 
of  good  will.,  we  have  the  perfect  man  released  from 
a  long  captivity.  The  hell  we  hear  of,  the  outer 
darkness^  of  which  the  King's  Majesty  spoke, 
might  be  this  going  downward  in  the  scale  of  being 
of  creatures  which  had  arrived  at  humanity,  but 
were  unworthy  of  it. 

"Here,    then,   would  begin  another  movement, 
the  Divine  way  of  heaven. 


132  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"  It  is  all  a  whirl !  Master,  it  makes  me  dizzy !  " 

Half  laughing,  the  boy  pressed  his  hands  to  his 
temples. 

"Ion,"  said  the  master  quietly,  "it  is  well  to 
observe  natural  phenomena  with  the  hope  of  draw- 
ing some  guidance  from  them  in  the  supernatural. 
Nature  is  like  our  sweet-toned  bell  in  C.  The  ma- 
terial stroke  at  the  base  brings  out  the  keynote ; 
but  if  you  listen  higher  up  where  the  band  of  lilies 
runs,  you  will  hear  the  dominant  whispering.  This 
is  our  limit.  If  the  universe  should  propound  its 
riddle  to  me,  I  would  lay  my  hand  on  my  mouth 
and  my  mouth  in  the  dust." 

"I  would  die  guessing,  or  knowing!"  cried  the 
boy.  Then,  with  a  quick  change  of  expression,  he 
bowed  lowly,  and  said  in  a  quiet  tone :  — 

"  I  considered  the-  ways  of  water.  It  springs  out 
of  the  dark  earth,  is  a  rivulet,  a  brook,  a  river.  It 
labors,  and  never  ceases  to  be  useful  till,  laden  with 
impurities  which  are  not  its  own,  it  falls  into  the 
ocean.  It  has  wet  the  lips  of  fever,  washed  the 
stains  of  labor,  helped  to  bear  malaria  from  the 
crowded  city,  revived  the  drooping  plant,  quenched 
the  devouring  flame,  sung  its  little  song  along  the 
roof  and  eaves,  stretched  its  little  film  to  soften  a 
sunbeam  in  the  hot  noon.  It  rests.  No,  it  rests 
not.  It  climbs  into  the  sky  only  to  return,  and  go 
over  it  all  again.  It  was  depressing  to  think  that 
we  may  come  again  to  go  through  the  same  round. 
But  who  knows  that  the  drop  of  water  makes  the 
same  round  a  second  time?     The  variety  may  be 


SAN  SALVADOR.  133 

infinite.  And  so,  I  thought,  the  soul  may  come 
and  come,  till  it  learns  to  sympathize  with  all. 
May  we  not  guess  who  has  made  many  upward - 
growing  circles  by  saying,  he  can  sympathize  with 
people  in  circumstances  which  have  never  sur- 
rounded his  apparent  life,  he  can  be  compassionate 
where  others  condemn,  he  can  stand  firm  where 
others  fail,  he  is  not  moved  by  clamor?" 

"Who  can  say?"  said  the  master,  passing  his 
hand  across  his  forehead.     "It  is  wiser  not  to  ask." 

"Is  it  forbidden  to  speculate?"  asked  the  boy  in 
a  low  tone. 

"It  is  not  forbidden.  Ion.  But  to  spend  the 
present  in  speculating  on  the  unrecallable  past  and 
the  unknown  future  is  to  throw  away  a  treasure. 
What  happens  when  you  try  to  look  at  the  sun  at 
midday?  You  see  nothing  but  a  palpitating  fire 
that  scorches  your  brain.  Turn  your  eyes  to  earth 
again,  and  do  you  see  it  as  it  is?  No:  everything 
is  discolored,  and  over  it  all  are  floating  livid 
disks  that  mimic  the  sun's  shape  and  slander  his 
color,  the  only  souvenirs  of  an  attempt  to  strain  a 
power  beyond  its  limits.  Do  not  try  to  read  the 
poetry  and  philosophy  of  a  languaojp  till  you  shall 
have  learned  its  alphabet  and  grammar." 

"Yet  I  learned  German  so,  and  was  at  the  head 
of  my  class,"  said  Ion  boldly.  "I  opened  a  book 
with  Goethe's  name  on  the  title-page,  and  turned 
the  leaves  till  I  saw  a  poem  that  was  as  clearly 
shaped  for  music  as  a  bird  is.  I  took  the  first  let- 
ter and  learned  its  name  and  sound,  and  then  the 


134  SAN  SALVAIWR. 

next  and  the  next,  till  I  had  a  word.  I  learned 
that  word,  and  the  next  in  the  same  way,  till  I  had 
a  verse  and  a  thought.  O  master,  what  delight 
when  the  dark  shadows  slid  off  that  thought,  and 
it  shone  out  like  a  star  from  under  a  cloud! 
When,  thought  by  thought,  I  had  got  the  whole 
poem  out,  every  phrase  perfect,  and  each  delicate 
grace  with  its  own  curves,  then  I  knew  German! 
I  plunged  into  the  sea  and  learned  to  swim!  " 

He  laughed  with  joyous  triumph,  and  lifting  his 
arms,  crossed  them  above  his  head,  bending  back- 
ward for  a  moment,  as  if  to  draw  a  full  breath 
from  the  zenith. 

The  old  man  smiled. 

"Thou  hast  an  answer  ever  ready,"  he  said, 
"and  thou  art  not  all  wrong,  boy.  I  would  not 
clip  thy  wings.  I  like  thy  life  and  courage.  But 
I  would  that  thou  hadst  something  also  of  Holy 
Fear." 

"I  like  not  the  name  of  fear,"  the  boy  said, 
cloudino'  over. 

"Yes;  if  a  man  fear  to  do  right,"  said  the  mas- 
ter. "But  there  is  a  noble  fear  of  presumption, 
and  of  settings  a  bad  example.  You  have  quoted 
from  our  highly-honored  Plutarch.  Do  you  re- 
member what  he  tells  of  Alexander  on  the  vigil  of 
the  battle  of  Abela?  He  stood  on  the  height  and 
saw  over  against  him  Darius  reviewing  his  troops 
by  torchlight.  They  marched  interminably  out  of 
the  darkness  into  the  glare  and  out  into  darkness. 
Those  moving  shadows  on  the  morrow  would  be- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  135 

come  to  him  and  to  his  army  showers  of  arrows  and 
shock  o£  spears,  and  trampling  hoofs,  and  crush- 
ing chariot-wheels,  an  avalanche  of  fierce  death  to 
bear  them  down. 

"  Then  Alexander  called  his  soothsayer,  and  they 
set  up  an  altar  before  the  king's  tent;  and  there, 
with  the  torch-lighted  hosts  of  the  foe  before  them, 
they  sacrificed  to  Holy  Fear. 

''When  the  hour  of  battle  came,  did  Alexander 
therefore  fail?  No!  The  next  day's  sun  shone  on 
his  victory ;  and  ere  it  set  poor  Darius  was  a  fugi- 
tive, and  his  conquerer  proclaimed  Emperor  of 
Asia. 

"Ion,  thy  danger  is  in  rashness  and  in  passion. 
Guard  thyself,  boy!  To-night,  I  pray  thee,  ere 
thou  sleep,  go  out  alone  on  to  the  topmost  terrace 
of  the  college,  and  there  in  silence  gaze  for  a  little 
while  into  the  cloudless  sky  and  consider  the  torch- 
lights of  God's  great  invisible  encampment,  cycles 
and  cycles  of  being,  a  measureless  life  of  which  w^e 
know  not  the  figure  nor  the  language.  And  when, 
so  gazing,  the  fever  of  thy  soul  shall  be  somewhat 
cooled,  do  thou  also  sacrifice  to  Holy  Fear! " 

Ion  listened  at  first  with  downcast  eyes,  then  look- 
ing earnestly  at  the  speaker ;  and  when  the  exhor- 
tation was  ended,  before  taking  his  seat,  he  went  to 
kiss  respectfully  the  fringe  of  the  master's  sash. 

Into  the  pause  that  followed  there  broke  a  sud- 
den clash  of  bells  all  struck  together. 

The  master  and  pupils  glanced  at  each  other  and 
all  rose,  uncovering  their  heads. 


136  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Tacita  recognized  the  familiar  a  morto  of  Italy. 
It  signified  here  that  some  one  was  dying. 

The  clash  changed  to  a  melody,  and  they  all  sang 
together  the  hymn  that  had  been  sung  that  night  in 
Venice :  — 

"  San  Salvador,  San  Salvador, 
We  cry  to  thee !  " 

singing  the  hymn  through. 

When  it  was  ended,  Tacita,  perceiving  that  the 
lesson  of  the  boys  would  not  continue  longer,  has- 
tened down  the  path  before  them. 

She  had  scarcely  reached  the  level  when  Ion  over- 
took her. 

"May  I  speak  to  you,  Tacita  Mora?"  he  asked, 
cap  in  hand.  "The  master  gave  me  permission  to 
follow  you." 

"Surely!"  she  answered,  blushing.  "But  tell 
me  first  for  whom  the  bells  were  rinoino;." 

"  It  must  be  Leila,  one  of  the  school-girls.  She 
was  very  sick  last  night.  And  this  morning  her 
brother  did  not  come  to  the  college,  so  I  knew  that 
she  must  be  worse." 

"Did  not  I  see  you  at  the  assembly?"  asked 
Tacita.  "I  had  but  a  glimpse;  but  I  think  that 
it  was  you." 

"Yes,"  said  Ion.  "It  was  my  first  admission. 
I  was  sixteen  years  old  the  day  before.  We  go 
there  at  my  age,  and  the  ladies  teach  us  politeness. 
It  is  proper  and  kind  for  any  lady  to  tell  us  if  we 
commit  a  gaucherie.  They  tell  us  gently  in  a 
whisper.      Pardon  me  if  I   still  am  awkward.      I 


SAN  SALVADOR.  137 

am  but  a  school-boy.  I  wanted  to  kiss  the  fringe 
of  your  sash  that  night,  and  did  not  dare  to." 

He  bent  to  take  her  sash  end,  kissed  it  lightly, 
and  still  held  it  for  a  moment  as  they  walked. 
There  was  something  caressing  and  fascinating  in 
his  voice  and  manner. 

Looking  down  at  the  silken  fringe,  and  letting 
it  slip  tuft  by  tuft,  he  asked  suddenly,  "Do  you 
love  my  sister?  " 

"I  admire  her,"  Tacita  replied.  "I have  a  sense 
of  subjection  in  her  presence  which  forbids  me  to 
use  such  a  familiar  word  as  love." 

"She  builds  up  that  barrier  in  spite  of  herself!  " 
the  brother  exclaimed.  "She  wishes  to  see  if  any 
one  will  throw  it  down  in  order  to  get  nearer  to 
her.  She  would  sometimes  be  glad  if  it  were 
down.     I  know  lona." 

"You  can  approach  her  nearly,"  Tacita  said. 
"But  who  else  would  push  down  a  barrier  that  she 
raises  round  herself?  " 

"I  want  you  to,"  Ion  said  earnestly.  "I  want 
lona  to  have  some  one  to  whom  she  can  unveil  her 
mind  more  than  she  would  to  me  even.  Her  rela- 
tions with  our  people  are  fixed.  Half  by  her  own 
motion,  and  half  with  their  help,  she  has  been  got 
on  to  a  pedestal.  She  is  on  a  pedestal  even  to 
Dylar.  And  there  she  must  remain  till  some  one 
helps  her  down.  See  why  I  am  so  anxious  about 
it  now." 

He  took  her  sash  end  again,  and  held  it,  his  fin- 
gers trembling  as  he  went  on  with  growing  passion. 


138  SAN   SALVADOR. 

"Next  year  some  of  our  young  men  are  going 
out  to  take  their  places  in  the  world.  They  are 
all  two  or  three  years  older  than  I;  but  I  am  a 
century  more  impatient  than  all  of  them  put  to- 
gether. Naturally  I  should  be  expected  to  wait. 
If  I  insist,  I  can  go ;  only  I  am  afraid  it  would  give 
pain  to  lona.  But  if  you  love  her,  you  can  take 
my  place  to  her.  She  is  sure  to  love  you.  I  feel 
your  sweetness  all  about  you  in  the  air.  At  the  as- 
sembly a  lady  quoted  something  pretty  about  you: 

'  Why,  a  strang'er,  when  he  sees  her 
In  the  street  even,  smileth  stilly, 
Just  as  you  would  at  a  lily.' 

Don't  let  this  barrier  grow  up  between  you  and 
lona!     Try  to  get  inside  of  it,  and  help  me." 

"I  will  do  what  I  can.  Ion,"  Tacita  said,  be- 
ginning to  feel  as  if  she  had  found  a  brother. 
"May  I  speak  of  it  to  Dylar?  I  think  that  she 
would  show  her  mind  more  freely  to  him." 

"I  leave  it  all  to  you,  and  thank  you,"  the  boy 
said,  warmly.  "  I  shall  die  if  I  do  not  go !  But 
don't  tell  them  that  I  said  so.  I  have  sueh  a  long- 
ing I  Last  year  I  climbed  that  southern  mountain 
we  call  the  Dome.  From  the  top  I  caught  a 
glimpse  between  the  higher  mountains  of  the  out- 
side world.  Oh,  how  it  stretched  away!  Our 
plain  was  as  the  palm  of  my  hand  compared  with 
that  vast  outspread  of  land.  There  were  small 
blue  spots,  so  small  that  if  I  held  two  fingers  up  at 
arm's  length,  they  were  hidden.  Yet  they  were 
mountains  like  these.     There  were  trees  so  distant 


SAN  SALVADOR.  139 

that  they  looked  a  mere  green  leaf  dropped  on  the 
ground.  I  saw  where  the  sun  rises  over  the  rim  of 
the  round  earth,  and  where  it  sinks  again.  How 
I  breathed!  This  is  a  dear  home,  I  know.  I 
have  seen  men  and  women  fall  on  their  knees 
and  thank  God,  weeping  with  joy,  that  they  were 
permitted  to  return  after  having  been  long  away. 
But  I  cannot  love  San  Salvador  as  it  deserves  till 
I  have  seen  something  different." 

Tacita  took  in  hers  the  boy's  trembling  hand. 

"Be  comforted!  "  she  said.  "I  will  do  all  that 
I  can,  and  you  are  sure  to  go.  It  will  not  be  long 
to  wait.  Now,  when  you  go  about,  look  at  San 
Salvador  and  all  that  it  contains  with  the  thought 
that  you  are  taking  leave  of  it.  On  the  eve  of  say- 
ing farewell,  even  a  mere  acquaintance  seems  a 
friend." 

They  were  at  the  door  of  the  Arcade.  Ion  took 
a  grateful,  graceful  leave. 

"Addio,  O  Queen  of  golden  Silence  !"  he  said. 

"Poor  little  Leila  is  dead  !"  said  Elena,  coming 
in  later.  "I  w^as  with  her.  It  was  she  who  gave 
you  the  white  rose  when  we  were  at  the  school. 
You  can  now  give  one  back." 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Leila's  funeral  took  place  the  next  day,  the 
lovely  waxen  figure  carried  on  a  bier  strown  with 
flowers.  The  family  surrounded  their  dead,  a  pro- 
cession of  friends  preceding  and  following.  The 
child's  home  had  been  in  one  of  the  smaller  apart- 
ments of  the  cross -streets,  reached  By  stairways 
under  the  arches;  and  as  it  was  the  custom  for 
funerals  to  approach  the  Basilica  by  the  avenue, 
they  came  across  to  the  eastward  through  alternat- 
ing light  and  shadow,  and,  reaching  the  outer 
street,  returned  by  the  bridge  in  front  of  the  Ar- 
cade, the  bells  ringing  a  morto  as  they  passed 
through  the  avenue.  But  it  was  not  the  clash  of 
all  the  bells  together.  It  was  a  plaintive  dropping, 
a  tone  or  a  chord,  like  dropping  tears. 

"Will  they  not  enter?"  Tacita  asked  in  a  whis- 
per of  Elena  when  she  saw  that  not  only  those  pre- 
ceding the  dead  spread  themselves  around  the  out- 
side of  the  inclosure  of  the  Basilica,  but  those  who 
followed  were  also  remaining  outside. 

"No,  my  dear.  The  house  of  God  is  no  place 
for  corrupting  human  bodies." 

The  bier  was  set  down  on  the  uppermost  of  the 
first  steps;  two  men  with  gilded  staves  drew 
aside  the  curtains  of  the  portal,  and  the  lights  and 


SAN  SALVADOR.  141 

the  Throne  shone  out  on  the  mourning  and  the 
mourned.  A  few  prayers  were  said;  and  then,  led 
by  the  chimes,  they  all  sang. 

Tacita  knew  enough  of  the  language  now  to  fol- 
low the  sense  of  their  simple  and  brief  appeal. 

"  Thou  who  didst  mourn  the  friend  that  silent  lay- 
In  the  dark  tomb,  behold  our  eyes  that  weep 
A  lifeless  form  that  loved  us  yesterday. 
Mourning-,  we  lay  its  silence  at  thy  feet,  — 
Thou  who  didst  weep  ! 

"  Help  of  the  sorrowful !  Help  us  to  say 

Of  this  dear  treasure  which  we  may  not  keep, 
The  Lord  hath  g-iven,  and  he  takes  away, 
And  still  thy  name  with  fervent  blessings  greet, — 
Thou  who  didst  weep  ! 
Thou  who  didst  weep  !  " 

The  windows  of  the  Basilica  had  all  been  dark- 
ened and  the  lamps  doubled ;  and  to  those  standing 
opjiosite  the  portal  the  two  long  rows  of  columns 
and  the  climbing  lights  and  upper  glow  might  have 
seemed  like  Jacob's  vision  of  the  angelic  stairway 
stretching  from  earth  to  heaven,  from  shadow  to 
light. 

The  hymn  ended,  they  took  up  their  dead  and 
went  on  in  silence.  The  road  that  led  to  the  cem- 
etery led  nowhere  else.  It  turned  from  the  plain 
at  the  south  side  of  the  Basilica,  hidden  by  the  ele- 
vation of  the  little  rock  plateau  on  which  the  struc- 
ture was  set,  and  passing  along  the  side  of  it,  en- 
tered a  deep  and  narrow  ravine  at  the  back.  This 
ravine  was  nearly  liaK  a  mile  long  and  walled  with 
precipitous  rocks  that  shut  out  everything  but  the 


142  SAN  SALVADOR. 

line  of  sky  above  and  the  topmost  point  of  one 
white  snow-peak,  serene  against  the  blue. 

Entering  the  ravine  was  to  be  reminded  infalli- 
bly of  the  "valley  of  the  shadow  of  death."  Here 
the  prayers  began.  A  single  voice  in  the  centre 
of  the  procession  exclaimed :  — 

"The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken 
away,"  and  like  waves  the  response  rolled  to  front 
and  rear  and  back  again, — "Blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord!"- 

The  Miserere  was  repeated  in  the  same  way,  and 
the  Psalm  "The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd." 

The  sun  entered  the  ravine  with  them.  There 
was  only  one  hour  of  the  day  when  a  direct  beam 
shone  in,  and  that,  except  when  the  days  were 
longest,  scarcely  reached  the  foot-way.  It  shone 
along  over  their  heads  now;  and  as  the  road  near 
its  end  made  a  turn  further  inward  to  the  moun- 
tains, it  shone  on  a  great  golden  legend  set  high 
above  on  an  arch  springing  from  cliff  to  cliff :  — 

I  AM  THE  Resurrection  and  the  Life  ! 

Some  men  on  the  natural  bridsre  that  made  the 
archway  stood  outlined  against  the  sky,  looking 
down  at  the  procession.  To  them  the  gray  robes 
and  black  sashes  could  have  been  scarcely  distin- 
guishable from  the  dark  rocks ;  but  the  form  of  the 
little  maiden  thus  taking  its  last  journey,  and  those 
of  the  eight  bearers,  all  in  white,  would  shine  out 
of  the  shadows. 

No  perfumed  garden  flowers  grew  on  that  high 
land  where  they  were  working  when  they  heard  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  143 

bells'  a  morto;  but  they  gathered  snowy  daisies, 
scentless  and  pure,  and  made  a  little  drift  of  their 
petals;  and  as  the  dead  approached  and  passed 
beneath,  they  dropped  them  down  in  a  thin  shower 
as  fine  as  any  snow-crystals. 

The  ravine  opened  beyond  the  arch  to  what  had 
been  a  torrent-bed  circling  round  a  cone-shaped 
mountain  almost  destitute  of  verdure.  The  whole 
mass  of  this  mountain  was  a  cemetery.  Wide 
stairs  and  galleries  outside  led  to  iron-bound  doors 
at  different  heights.  One  of  these  doors  was  open. 
The  procession,  crossing  a  bridge  over  dry  stones, 
went  up  the  graded  ascent  to  what  might  be  called 
the  second  story.  Here  was  a  full  sunshine.  The 
bearers  set  their  burden  down  in  it  before  the  oj^en 
door.  And  here,  at  last,  grief  was  allowed  to  have 
its  way  for  a  moment.  The  mourners  fell  on  their 
knees  beside  their  dead.  A  choir  of  men  and 
women  broke  out  singing :  — 

"  Look  thy  last  upon  the  sun ! 
Eyes  that  scarcely  had  begun 
To  distinguish  near  from  far, 
Star  from  lamp,  or  lamp  from  star ;  — 
Eyes  whose  bitterest  tears  were  dew 
That  a  swift  smile  sparkled  through. 
Lift  thy  white  lids  once,  before 
Darkness  seal  them  evermore  ! 

"  Speak,  and  bid  the  air  rejoice, 
Music  of  a  childish  voice  ! 
One  more  word  our  hearts  shall  hail 
Sweeter  than  the  nightingale  ! 
Smile  again,  0  lips  of  rose  ! 
Break  the  pitiless  repose 


144  SAN  SALVADOR. 

That  is  builded  like  a  wall 
Where  in  vain  we  beat  and  call. 

"Nevermore  I    Ah,  nevermore  ! 
Till  we  touch  the  heavenly  shore, 
Voice  or  smile  of  hers  shall  bless 
Our  heart- bleeding-  loneliness. 
Jesus,  King,  and  Brother  mild ! 
Keep  her  yet  a  little  child. 
That  her  face  we  there  may  see 
As  we  yield  it  back  to  thee !  " 

The  parents  and  the  child's  brother  sobbed  as 
they  bent  over  the  unanswering  dead,  if  the  peace- 
ful brightness  of  that  flower-like  face  could  be 
called  unresponsive,  and  they  rose  only  when  some 
of  their  nearer  friends  bent  over  and  would  have 
lifted  them.  Then  the  bearers  took  uj^  the  bier  and 
passed  out  of  the  sun,  and  disappeared  into  what 
from  the  outside  seemed  a  profound  darkness. 

It  was  a  long  corridor  formed  precisely  like  a 
catacomb,  except  that  the  greater  part  of  it  was 
masonry.  The  roof,  floor,  and  walls  were  all  of 
unpolished  gray  stone  with  white  marble  tablets  set 
in  the  walled-up  niches.  Three  iron  lamps  sus- 
pended from  the  ceiling  threw  all  about  a  tender 
golden  light.  At  the  farthest  end  of  the  corri'dor 
something  white  reflected  dimly.  There  were  a 
few  closed  niches,  but  the  greater  number  of  them 
were  unoccupied.  Outside  one  of  these,  opposite 
the  second  lamp,  a  smaller  lamp,  as  yet  unlighted, 
was  set  in  an  iron  ring  fixed  in  the  masonry. 

The  bier  was  set  down  before  this  niche,  which 
was  lined  with  myrtle  sprigs,  and  had  little  lace 


SAN  SALVADOR.  145 

bags  filled  with  spices  in  the  corners.  There  were 
two  silver  rings  inside  attached  to  cords,  one  at  the 
head  and  one  at  the  foot. 

As  Tacita  entered,  she  saw  the  father  lift  his 
child  and  lay  her  in  her  fragrant  bed,  and  the 
mother  place  a  pillow  under  her  head.  They 
crossed  her  hands  on  her  breast,  and  slipped  one 
of  the  silver  rings  on  to  a  wrist  and  the  other  over 
the  slender  foot.  They  had  been  weeping  loudly ; 
but  when,  their  service  done,  they  stood  and  looked 
at  the  peaceful  and  lovely  sleeper,  something  of  her 
quiet  came  over  them.  They  gazed  fixedly,  as  if 
their  souls  were  groj^ing  after  hers,  or  as  if  the  wall 
of  her  silence  and  immobility  were  not  altogether 
impenetrable,  and  intent,  with  hushed  breathing, 
they  could  catch  some  sense  of  a  light  fuller  than 
that  of  the  sun,  and  of  sweet  sounds,  beautiful  scenes 
and  loving  companionship  in  what  had  seemed  a 
void,  and  of  nearness  where  infinite  distances  had 
been  straining  at  their  heart-strings. 

Tacita  laid  her  bunch  of  white  roses  at  the  child's 
feet.  Then  Elena  led  her  down  the  corridor  and 
pointed  to  a  name  inscribed  on  the  marble  of  a 
closed  niche.     It  was  her  father's. 

She  kissed  the  marble,  and  stood  thinking ;  then 
turned  away.  "God  keep  him!"  she  said.  "I 
cannot  find  him  here." 

At  the  end  of  the  corridor,  in  the  centre  of  the 
wall,  was  an  open  niche,  all  white  marble,  with  a 
gilded  cross  lying  in  it,  and  so  many  little  bags  of 
spices  that  all  the  neighborhood  was  perfumed  by 
them. 


146  SAN  SALVADOR. 

This  niche  was  called  "The  Resurrection;  "  and 
at  every  funeral  the  mourners  brought  their  tribute 
of  perfumes  to  it. 

Elena  drew  her  companion's  attention  to  the 
niches  around  this  open  tomb.  "You  see  how 
small  they  are.  They  are  all  young  infants.  It 
is  the  same  in  all  the  corridors.  The  end  where 
the  tomb  of  Christ  is,  is  called  the  cemetery  of  the 
Innocents." 

Outside,  in  the  gallery,  a  choir  was  softly  sing- 
ing:— 

"  Thou  who  didst  weep !  " 

"We  will  go  now,"  Elena  whispered. 

As  they  went,  the  mourners  still  stood  before 
their  dead,  the  husband  and  wife  hand  in  hand. 
The  brother,  with  his  hands  clasped  before  him, 
gazed  steadfastly  into  his  sister's  face,  that  was 
scarcely  whiter  than  his  own. 

The  little  lamp  had  been  lighted,  the  chains  at- 
tached to  the  chain  of  a  bell  hung  outside  the  door, 
and  a  plate  of  glass  covered  the  niche. 

People  came  and  went  quietly.  Some  had  gone 
home ;  others  were  seated  on  the  stone  benches  out- 
side. Dylar  was  leaning  on  the  parapet;  and  when 
Tacita  and  Elena  came  out,  he  accompanied  them 
down  and  through  the  ravine.  When  they  reached 
the  lane  behind  the  church,  he  asked  Tacita  if  she 
would  like  to  go  up  and  see  his  cottage,  which  was 
just  above  the  college.  She  assented  gladly,  and 
Elena  left  them  to  go  up  the  path  together. 

The  cottage  was  of  the  plainest,  and  contained 


SAN  SALVADOR.  147 

but  two  rooms.  The  front  one  had  a  glass  door 
and  two  windows  overlooking  the  town.  There 
was  a  table  in  the  centre  of  the  room  with  a  revolv- 
ing top  surrounded  by  drawers.  A  hammock  hung 
at  the  back,  and  there  were  two  chairs,  a  bookcase 
and  a  closet.  The  floor  was  of  green  and  white 
tiles,  and  the  roughly  plastered  walls  were  washed 
a  dull  green. 

"You  see,  I  have  here  everything  that  I  need," 
Dylar  said.  "My  living  rooms  are  in  the  college; 
but  I  often  come  hei-e.  My  writing  and  planning, 
especially  of  our  outside  affairs,  is  done  here.  The 
business  of  San  Salvador  is  all  portioned  out  and 
arranged,  and  can  be  done  without  me.  But  the 
outside  business  requires  a  good  deal  of  study." 

He  brought  the  chairs  out,  and  they  sat  down, 
and  Dylar  pointed  out  the  larger  mountains,  and 
named  them,  told  where  the  torrents  were  and  how 
they  had  been  or  could  be  deviated,  told  where 
the  signal-stations  were,  and  how  they  could  know 
from  them  all  that  happened  at  their  outer  stations. 
He  showed  her  her  own  chamber  windows  in  the 
Arcade,  the  heights  behind  which,  scarcely  hidden 
from  the  town,  she  had  entered  San  Salvador,  and, 
near  the  southeastern  angle  of  the  opening,  a  moun- 
tain with  a  double  peak,  beyond  which  stood  Castle 
Dylar. 

The  terrace  where  they  sat  was  covered  with  a 
thin  dry  turf,  and  a  pine-tree  grew  at  one  side  and 
an  olive-tree  at  the  other.  The  olive  was  so  old 
that  its  trunk  was  quite  hollowed  out,  and  the  side 


148  SAN  SALVADOR. 

next  the  rock  had  long  since  died  and  been  cut 
away.  The  single  great  outward  branch  was  full 
of  blossoms.  From  the  parapet  one  could  look 
down  and  see  the  river  of  ripening  wheat  that 
flowed  quite  round  the  rock  on  which  the  college 
was  built. 

"This  is  the  only  spot  in  the  world  that  I  can 
properly  call  home,"  Dylar  said.  "It  is  the  only 
place  all  mine,  and  where  no  stranger  comes.  If 
I  am  wanted,  a  signal  calls  me." 

"You  like  to  be  here!  "  Tacita  said  with  a  cer- 
tain pensiveness.      "You  like  to  be  alone !  " 

"You  think  so,"  he  said,  "because  I  keep  some- 
what apart.  It  is  necessary  that  I  should  do  so  in 
order  to  avoid  complicating  intimacies.  Then,  I 
have  a  great  deal  to  think  of.  Besides,  I  will  con- 
fess that  when  human  affection  comes  too  near,  and 
becomes  personal,  I  feel  a  sense  of  recoil.  Human 
evil  and  sorrow  I  do  not  shrink  from;  but  human 
love"  — 

Tacita  moved  backward  a  step,  and  clouded  over. 

"Not  so  !  "  Dylar  exclaimed.  "It  is  precisely 
because  your  friendship  is  as  delicate  as  a  mist  that 
I  seek  you,  that  I  follow  you.  See  that  white 
cloud  on  the  pine-tree  yonder!  It  is  like  you. 
The  tree-top,  the  topmost  tree-top  has  caught  and 
tries  to  hold  it.  Do  you  think  that  it  would  like 
to  stay?  " 

"It  stays !  "  she  murmured ;  and  a  faint  rose-hue 
over  her  face  and  neck  and  hands  betrayed  the  sud- 
den heart-throb.      "It  stays  while  it  is  held." 


SAN  SALVADOR.  149 

Dvlar  looked  at  her  with  delis^ht  in  his  eves. 

"I  am  glad  to  have  here  at  last  the  little  girl  of 
the  baiocco^^^  he  said.  "  I  never  forgot  her.  When 
I  no  longer  saw  her,  she  grew  up  in  my  mind.  I 
fancied  her  saying  to  me  across  the  world :  '  Why 
do  you  not  come?     I  am  no  longer  a  child!  '  " 

Tacita  gave  him  a  startled  glance,  and  quickly 
turned  her  eyes  away.  Love  the  most  ardent,  the 
most  impetuous,  shone  in  his  face. 

"Tacita,"  he  said  softly,  "I  am  indeed- a  beggar 
now !  But  do  not  fear.  I  will  wait  for  your  an- 
swer ;  but  I  could  not  wait  before  letting  you  know 
surely  that  my  fate  is  in  your  hands.  And  now, 
shall  we  go  down?  " 

She  turned  to  descend  before  him,  but  stopped, 
looking  back  over  her  shoulder  with  lowered  eyes 
that  did  not  see  his  face.  "  May  I  have  just  one 
little  string  of  olive -blossoms  ?  "  she  asked. 

He  gathered  and  gave  it  to  her  over  the  shoul- 
der her  cheek  was  touching.  "Ask  me  for  the 
tree!  "  he  exclaimed. 

"Let  it  be  mine  where  it  stands,"  she  said,  hid- 
ing a  smile,  and  taking  a  step  forward. 

"Ask  me  for  the  castle!  "  he  said  passionately, 
following  her. 

"I  will  first  see  the  castle,"  she  said,  still  going, 
her  face  turned  from  him. 

"Will  you  go  to-morrow  to  see  it?  Elena  wiU 
accompany  us." 

"If  you  ask  me,  I  will  go." 

They  had  reached  the  circle,  and  some  men  were 


150  SAN  SALVADOR. 

there  on  their  way  to  the  upper  gardens.  In  the 
town  they  were  alone  again,  and  Dylar  sketched 
their  programme  for  the  next  day. 

"You  and  Elena  will  talk  it  over,"  he  said. 
"  And  if  you  wish  any  change  made,  send  me  word 
this  evening." 

They  parted  at  the  door,  and  Tacita  went  up- 
stairs feeling  as  though  she  floated  in  the  air. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  sun  was  not  yet  in  the  to^\^l.  Its  beams 
had  scarcely  reached  the  Basilica  in  their  progress 
down  the  western  mountains  when  the  two  ladies 
mounted  their  donkeys  at  the  Arcade  to  go  to  Cas- 
tle Dylar.  The  master  of  the  castle  was  to  meet 
them  on  the  mountain  path  above  the  college. 

They  found  him  waiting  for  them ;  and  as  they 
went  up  an  easy  serpentine  road,  and  over  bridges 
binding  cliff  to  cliff,  Dylar  pointed  out  hills  and 
streams  where  the  small  flocks  and  herds  of  San 
Salvador  were  kept. 

From  this  path  could  be  seen  to  the  best  advan- 
tage the  rock  on  which  the  college  was  built,  and 
the  way  the  structure  followed  its  outlines  and  im- 
itated them  in  pinnacles  and  terraces  of  every  size 
and  shape.  They  found  the  mountains  on  which 
the  pine-woods  bordered,  and,  close  at  hand,  the 
height  from  which  the  first  Dylar  had  discovered 
the  site  of  his  future  city. 

San  Salvador  disappeared;  then  its  gardens 
were  no  longer  visible ;  and  then  the  spaces  that 
betrayed  the  presence  of  a  plain,  or  valley,  were 
filled  in ;  and  they  no  longer  looked  backward. 

They  entered  upon  a  scene  like  that  which  had 
preceded   Tacita's   first   vision   of    San   Salvador, 


152  SAN  SALVADOR. 

scarcely  a  month  before ;  and  again  she  began  to 
ask  herself  if  it  were  not  all  a  dream. 

But  a  word  from  Dylar^was  enough  to  chase  the 
phantom  of  unreality  away.  Tacita  used  every 
pretext  that  enabled  her  to  glance  at  him.  He  was 
so  picturesque  and  soldierly,  he  had  such  an  un- 
common figure  with  his  firm  profile  and  auburn- 
tinted  hair;  and  the  dark  tunic  and  turban-cap 
with  its  silver  band  were  so  graceful. 

She  and  Elena  had  each  a  man  at  the  bridle; 
but  Dylar  was  at  her  side  at  every  rough  place  or 
steep  descent.  Yet  his  manner  could  not  be  called 
lover-like.  It  was  rather  that  of  a  kind  and  anx- 
ious guardian.  She  asked  herself  if  he  had  in- 
deed said  but  the  day  before  that  his  fate  was  in 
her  hands.  It  seemed  impossible.  It  was  he  who 
held  her  fate.  Under  his  guardianship,  how  sweet 
were  the  dark  places,  how  welcome  the  giddy  cliff 
edges ! 

Outwardly  quiet,  and  with  a  face  almost  as  col- 
orless as  an  orange  flower,  Tacita  was  intoxicated 
with  delight. 

Near  the  end  of  their  journey,  they  passed  across 
the  opening  to  a  deep  and  dark  ravine. 

"There,"  said  the  prince,  pointing,  "was  found 
the  gold  which  enabled  the  first  Dylar  to  buy  and 
cultivate  land  around  the  castle,  and  to  found  San 
Salvador.  It  was  a  rich  mine ;  and  we  still  find  a 
few  grains  in  it." 

A  little  later  they  reached  a  small  plateau,  and 
dismounted.     Passing  a  corner  of  ledge,  they  came 


SAN  SALVADOE.  153 

to  a  long  rough  stair  so  shut  in  as  to  be  in  twi- 
light. It  descended  and  disappeared  in  a  turn, 
and  seemed  to  have  been  cut  in  the  rock.  It 
ended  at  a  door  that  opened  into  a  low-roofed  cave. 

"Courage  !  "  said  Dylar  with  a  smile,  and  gave 
his  hand  to  Tacita. 

He  led  her  through  the  cave,  and  up  a  stone 
stair  lighted  by  a  hanging  lamp  to  a  landing  that 
had  a  narrow  barred  door  at  one  side.  Through 
this  door,  masked  on  its  other  side  by  shelves,  they 
entered  a  large  cellar  such  as  one  might  expect  to 
find  under  an  old  castle  founded  upon  rocks. 

Here  were  long  vistas  of  vaults  sup])orted  on 
piers  of  masonry,  tracts  of  thick  wall,  both  long 
and  short,  sometimes  taking  the  place  of  piUars  and 
arches.  There  were  glistening  rows  of  wine-hogs- 
heads diminishing  in  the  darkness ;  and  shelves  of 
jars  gave  a  familiar  domestic  look  to  the  place. 

Dylar  pointed  out  how  cunningly  the  stair  from 
the  cave  below  was  hidden.  It  was  set  between 
two  walls  that  ran  together  like  a  wedge,  a  wall 
starting  off  diagonally  from  the  point  where  they 
met,  and  pillars  and  arches  so  confusing  the  out- 
lines that  the  wedge-shape  could  not  be  suspected. 

From  the  large  cellar  they  entered  a  small  one 
surrounded  by  shelves  of  bottles. 

"I  am  sorry  to  welcome  you  to  my  house  by 
such  a  rough  way,"  Dylar  said.  "But  it  is,  at 
least,  an  ascending  one." 

"You  are  giving  me  a  charming  adventure," 
Tacita  said  brightly.      "I  have   entered  many  a 


154  SAN  SALVADOR. 

palace  and  castle  by  tlie  portone^  but  never  before 
by  a  cavern  and  a  masked  door." 

The  next  stair  led  to  a  plainly -furnished  study, 
or  office.  Dylar  hastened  to  open  a  door  into  a 
noble  baronial  hall. 

"At  last,  welcome  to  Castle  Dylar!"  he  ex- 
claimed. "May  peace  fill  e^ery  hour  you  pass 
within  its  walls.  Command  here  as  if  all  were 
your  own! " 

They  entered  a  drawing-room  of  which  the  walls 
were  all  a  rich  dimness  of  old  frescos,  and  the 
oaken  furniture  was  upholstered  with  purple  cloth. 
The  tall  windows  let  in  a  brilliant  sunshine 
through  the  upper  panes;  but  all  the  lower  ones 
were  covered  by  shutters.  Here  the  housekeeper 
came  to  welcome  the  ladies  and  show  them  to  their 
chambers. 

The  wide  stairway  led  to  a  circular  gallery 
hung  with  tapestries  in  which  was  woven  the  story 
of  Alexander  the  Great.  There  was  nothing  mod- 
ern. But  the  two  connecting  chambers  they  en- 
tered were  bright  with  sunshine,  and  fresh  with 
green  and  white  draperies.  The  windows  were 
swathed  with  a  thin  gray  gauze. 

Tacita  went  eagerly  to  look  out. 

"We  must  not  show  ourselves,"  Elena  said. 
"You  can  look  through  the  gauze." 

The  first  glance,  vaulting  over  a  mass  of  tree-tops 
and  a  great  half -mo  on  of  verdure,  saw  a  plain  that 
extended  to  a  low  ripple  of  pale-blue  mountains  on 
the  horizon.     A  few  stunted   groves  were  visible 


SAN  SALVADOR.  155 

on  this  wide  expanse,  and  a  few  abrupt  hills  which 
seemed  to  be  protruding  ledges,  the  crevices  of 
which  had  been  gradually  filled  by  the  dust-bear- 
ing winds. 

Tacita  recollected  Ion's  description  of  this 
scene,  which  had  appeared  to  him  so  beautifid  that 
San  Salvador,  compared  with  it,  had  seemed  a 
prison. 

"Poor  boy!"  she  thought.  "He  will  find  no- 
where else  such  freedom  as  that  which  he  is  so 
eager  to  leave." 

The  near  view  compensated  by  its  richness  for 
the  sterility  of  the  distant.  It  was  a  vast  fence- 
less garden  radiating  two  miles,  or  more,  in  every 
direction  from  the  front  of  the  castle,  and  every 
foot  of  it  was  cultivated  to  the  utmost.  There 
were  blocks  of  yellowing  wheat,  there  was  every 
green  of  garden,  orchard,  and  vineyard  ;  and 
through  them  all  the  ever-present  olive-trees  which 
gave  the  place  its  name.  They  were  planted 
wherever  a  tree  could  go.  Around  the  foot  of  the 
castle  they  were  clustered  so  thickly  that  they  hid 
even  from  its  windows  the  green  turf  and  gray 
steps  of  its  semicircular  terraces.  The  large 
houses  of  whitewashed  stone  with  flat  roofs  were 
scattered  about  irregularly.  By  some  of  them 
stood  groups  of  palm-trees ;  or  a  single  tree  waved 
its  foliage  above  the  terrace. 

The  visitors  had  their  dinner  in  a  quaint  bou- 
doir, cone-shaped,  and  frescoed  to  look  like  a  for- 
est aisle  from  the  pavement  to  the  apex  of  its  ceil- 


156  -S.l.V  SALVADOR. 

inof.  One  could  recosfnize  the  artist  of  the  Basilica 
in  those  interwoven  branches,  those  leaping  squir- 
rels, and  the  bird's-nests  with  a  gaping  mouth  or 
downy  head  visible  over  the  rim. 

"  I  will  give  you  a  more  fitting  service  when  you 
come  here  by  way  of  the  Pines,"  Dylar  said. 
''But  on  these  stolen  visits  from  below  we  live 
with  closed  doors  and  a  single  servant." 

"He  eats,"  thought  Tacita.  "Therefore  he  is 
human."  And  she  felt  no  need  of  puzzling  over 
a  major  proposition,  nor,  indeed,  of  anything  but 
what  the  painted  cone  contained. 

"It  should  be  a  communicable  thought  which 
provokes  that  amused  smile,"  Dylar  said  when  he 
caught  her  expression. 

Tacita  blushed.  "I  was  telling  myself  that  it 
is  a  real  plate  of  soup  before  you,  and  a  real  spoon 
in  your  hand;  and  that  therefore  I  need  not  ex- 
pect to  find  myself  presently  in  the  Madrid  gallery, 
and  see  you  disappear  into  a  picture-frame." 

"Shall  I  tell  you  something  of  that  man's  history 
by  and  by?"  asked  Dylar.  "It  may  help  to  lay 
his  ghost." 

"Oh,  yes!"  she  exclaimed.     "And,  oh,  yes!" 

"When  you  shall  have  taken  some  repose, 
then,"  he  said,  "come  with  me  to  the  terrace  of 
the  tower.  There,  with  the  scene  of  my  ancestor's 
labors  before  our  eyes,  I  will  show  you  how  to  dis- 
tinguish between  him  and  me." 

"I  cannot  slef'p,  Elena,"  said  Tacita,  when  they 
were  alone.      "Yet  a  nap  is   just  what  I  want. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  157 

What  a  shame  it  is  that  our  rebellious  bodies  do 
not  know  their  duty  better,  and  obey  orders." 

"I  fancy,"  said  Elena,  "that  the  body  could  re- 
tort with  very  good  reason  when  accused  of  being 
troublesome,  and  that  it  understands  and  does  its 
business  as  well  as  the  mind  understands  and  does 
its  own.  Why  should  not  body  and  soul  be 
friendly  comrades?  " 

"My  respected  friend  and  body,"  said  Tacita 
with  great  politeness,  as  she  leaned  back  in  a  deep 
lounging-chair,  "will  you  please  to  go  to  sleep?" 

She  closed  her  eyes,  and  was  silent  a  little 
while,  then  opened  them,  and  whispered,  "Elena, 
it  won't!" 

There  was  no  reply.  Elena  had  gone  to  sleep 
in  the  adjoining  chamber. 

Tacita  sat  looking  out  over  the  wide  landscape. 
The  nearest  house  visible  over  the  olive-trees  had 
a  flame  of  nasturtium  flowers  on  its  lower  walls, 
and  a  palm-tree  lifting  its  columned  trunk  to  hold 
a  plumy  green  umbrella  over  the  roof.  The  foli- 
age waved  languidly  to  and  fro  in  a  faint  breeze, 
lifting  and  falling  to  meet  its  own  shadow  that 
lifted  and  fell  responsive  on  the  white  walls  and 
gray  roof.  There  was  something  mesmeric  in  the 
motion;  and  the  silence  and  "the  strong  sunshine 
settled  to  its  sleep  "  were  like  a  steadfast  will  be- 
hind the  waving  hands. 

When  Tacita  woke,  Elena  was  waiting  to  tell 
her  that  Dylar  was  in  the  drawing-room,  and 
would  show  her  the  castle. 


158  SAN  SALVADOR. 

To  one  acquainted  with  old  countries  there  was 
nothing  surj^rising  in  the  massive,  half-ruined 
structure,  with  its  rock  foundations,  and  the  im- 
possibility of  finding  one's  way  unguided  from  one 
part  of  the  interior  to  the  other.  The  ancient  tap- 
estries, the  stone  floors  with  their  faded  rugs  from 
oriental  looms,  the  stone  stairways  where  a  carj^et 
would  have  looked  out  of  place,  and  was,  in  fact, 
spread  only  as  flowers  are  scattered  for  some  fosta, 
—  they  were  not  strange  to  Tacita.  But  they  were 
most  interesting. 

A  round  tower  made  the  centre  of  the  castle; 
and  there  was  a  wing  at  either  side  with  a  laby- 
rinth of  chambers.  This  tower  formed  a  rude 
porter's  lodge  on  the  ground,  a  fine  hall  above,  a 
gallery  by  the  sleeping-rooms,  and  the  fourth  floor 
was  Dylar's  private  study.  From  this  room  a 
narrow  stair  went  up  through  the  thickness  of  the 
wall  to  the  roof -terrace.  There  were  secret  pas- 
sages, and  loop-holes  for  observation  everywhere. 

"God  knows  how  many  deeds  of  darkness  these 
hidden  chambers  may  have  witnessed!  "  Dylar  said. 
''If  it  had  not  seemed  possible  that  they  may  be 
useful  in  the  future,  some  of  them  would  have 
been  torn  down  before  this.  If  any  large  agricul- 
tural work  were  attempted,  it  might  be  necessary 
to  lodo'e  the  workmen  here  for  a  while.  When 
these  houses  you  see  were  being  built,  a  hundred 
men  dined  every  day  in  a  hall  in  the  eastern  wing." 

They  had  stepped  out  on  to  the  terrace,  where 
chairs  had  been  placed  for  them,   screened  from 


SAN  SALVADOR.  159 

sight  by  the  parapet,  so  that  as  they  sat  only  a 
green  and  gold  rim  of  the  settlement  was  visible. 

"How  beautiful  it  would  be,"  said  Tacita,  "if 
all  that  plain  were  wheat  and  corn  and  vines  and 
orchards,  with  the  hills  crowned  with  small  sepa- 
rate cities,  all  stone,  with  not  a  green  leaf,  only 
boxes  of  pinks  outside  the  windows." 

"Just  my  thought !"  Dylar  exclaimed,  blushing 
with  pleasure.  "Who  knows  but  it  may  be  some 
day?  We  own  some  land  outside  our  farms,  and 
have  begun  by  planting  it  with  canes.  It  is  that 
unbroken  green  band  you  see  yonder.  It  is  larger 
than  it  looks." 

They  were  silent  a  little  while.  There  was  no 
word  that  could  have  added  to  their  happiness. 
Then  the  prince  began  his  story. 

"Three  hundred  years  ago  the  name  of  Dylar 
was  well  known  in  some  of  the  great  cities  of 
Europe  and  the  East.  The  family  had  occupied 
high  places,  and  the  head  of  it  at  that  time,  whose 
portrait  you  have  seen,  was  a  brave  soldier.  He 
was  fortunate  in  everything,  —  too  fortunate,  for 
he  excited  envy.  He  had  a  beautiful  wife  and  a 
young  son  and  a  daughter. 

"  His  wife  died,  and  with  her  departed  his  good 
fortune.  While  he  mourned  for  her,  forgetful  of 
everything  but  grief,  those  who  envied  him  were 
busy.  I  need  not  enter  into  details.  His  life  is 
all  recorded,  and  you  can  read  it  if  you  will.  It 
is  enough  to  say  that  his  enemies  succeeded  in  de- 
priving him  of  place,  and  in  multiplying  their  own 


160  SAN  SALVADOR. 

number.  They  changed  the  whole  face  of  the 
earth  for  him. 

"He  found  himself  in  that  position  where  a  man 
sees  open  before  him  the  abyss  of  human  mean- 
ness. Trivial  minds  dropped  off  their  childish 
graces  and  showed  their  childish  brutality.  No- 
thing is  capable  of  a  greater  brutishness  than  a 
trifler.  Fine  sentiments  came  slipping  down  like 
gorgeous  robes  from  dry  skeletons.  Prudence  took 
the  place  of  magnanimity,  its  weazened  face  as 
cold  as  stone.  Ceremonious  courtesy  met  him 
where  effusive  affection  had  been.  In  short,  he 
had  the  experience  of  a  man  who  has  lost  place  and 
power  with  no  prospect  of  regaining  them. 

"He  had  no  wish  to  regain  them,  and  would 
have  refused  them  had  they  been  offered.  To  as- 
tonishment, incredulity,  and  indignation  succeeded 
a  profound  disgust.  His  only  wish  was  to  shal^e 
off  all  his  former  associations,  and  seek  a  place 
where  he  might  forget  them. 

"He  sold  his  property,  and  with  his  two  chil- 
dren abandoned  a  society  that  was  not  worthy  of 
him.  A  nurse  and  a  man-servant  only  clung  to 
his  fortunes,  and  refused  to  be  separated  from  him 
and  his  children. 

"For  a  time  he  was  a  wanderer,  thinking  many 
thoughts. 

"  He  had  been  noble  and  honorable,  but  not  re- 
ligious. It  is  probable  that  now,  when  humanity 
had  so  failed  him,  he  raised  his  eyes  to  inquire  of 
that   Deity  of   whose   existence  he  had  formerly 


SAN  SALVADOR.  161 

made  only  a  respectful  acknowledgment.  The 
Madrid  picture  must  have  been  painted  about  this 
time.      It  expresses  his  state  of  mind. 

"Doubtless  some  of  the  plans  which  he  after- 
ward put  in  execution  were  already  floating  in  his 
imagination  when  in  one  of  his  journeys  he  came 
upon  this  place,  for  he  immediately  resolved  to  pur- 
chase it.  It  is  recorded  that  he  exclaimed,  'It  was 
made  for  me  I ' 

"The  place  must  have  looked  uninviting  at  that 
time  to  one  who  had  not  already  plans  which  would 
make  works  of  improvement  a  welcome  necessity ; 
for  what  is  now  a  garden  was  then  a  waste  almost 
as  barren  as  that  you  see  beyond ;  and  in  place  of 
these  houses,  which,  in  a  rustic  way,  are  fine, 
noble  structures,  were  a  few  miserable  huts  inhab- 
ited by  tenants  as  ignorant,  and  even  vicious,  as 
they  were  poor. 

"  Probably  Dylar  had  that  feeling  from  the  first 
which  has  been  ever  since  one  of  our  principles  of 
action,  to  take  the  worst,  that  which  no  one  else 
would  take,  in  men  and  things,  and  work  at  their 
reformation. 

"At  all  events,  he  set  out  at  once  to  find  the 
owner  of  the  place,  a  young  man  who  might  be  in 
Paris,  or  London,  or  Rome,  but  most  surely,  at  the 
gaming-table.  Found  at  last,  after  a  long  search, 
he  consented  readily  to  sell,  but  he  did  not  con- 
sent gladly.  He  could  not  hesitate,  for  he  was  re- 
duced almost  to  living  by  his  wits;  but  he  suffered. 

"Dylar  had    compassion    on  him.     He    saw  in 


162  SAN  SALVADOR. 

him  the  victim  of  an  evil  education  involved  in  a 
life  from  which  he  was  too  weak  to  escape.  But 
it  was  impossible  to  approach  such  a  man  with  the 
same  help  which  he  could  give  to  others.  He  only 
begged  that  if  ever  the  young  man,  or  his  chil- 
dren, should  wish  to  live  in  retirement  for  a  while, 
they  would  still  look  upon  the  castle  of  their  an- 
cestors as  a  home  to  which  they  would  be  ever 
welcome. 

"Then  he  set  hiniself  to  change  the  face  of  his 
desolate  possessions.  He  gathered  a  score  of  out- 
casts, men  and  women  to  whom  every  door  of  hope 
was  closed,  and  brought  them  to  the  castle  till 
other  shelter  could  be  provided  for  them.  More 
than  one  of  them  had  crimes  to  confess ;  but  they 
were  the  crimes  of  misery  and  desperation  rather 
than  of  malice. 

"Of  a  different  class  of  the  needy,  he  added  to 
his  own  household.  There  was  an  elderly  lady 
who  gladly  took  the  place  of  duenna  to  his  daugh- 
ter;  and  an  old  book -worm  who  was  starving  in  un- 
honored  obscurity  became  his  son's  tutor,  and  later 
an   important  agent  in  the  success  of   his  plans. 

"Of  course,  agriculture  was  their  first  need; 
and  the  tutor  was  far  in  advance  of  his  time  in 
this  science  —  so  far  as  to  have  been  considered  a 
visionary.  Dylar  found  him  able  to  realize  these 
visions. 

"Before  long,  the  land  began  to  reward  them. 
Huts  had  been  built  for  the  new-comers,  and  all 
worked  with  a  will.     Dylar  had  confided  something 


SAN  SALVADOR.  163 

of  his  plans  to  these  poor  people,  and  had  mspired 
them  with  an  ambition  to  build  here  a  city  of  ref- 
uge, and  to  look  forward  to  a  time  when  they 
might  say  to  the  world  which  had  condemned  them, 
Behold  !   a  higher  judge  has  absolved  us. 

"  Whether  the  thought  occurred  first  to  Dylar, 
or  to  his  son's  tutor,  we  do  not  know;  but  they 
agreed  that  gold  must  exist  in  large  quantities  in 
the  mountains,  and  they  secretly  searched  for  it. 
Some  grains  had  been  found  in  a  little  stream  that 
issued  from  the  mountains  where  the  river  now  is. 
To  guess  how  difficult  it  was  to  get  at  the  source 
of  this  stream  you  would  have  to  examine  the  con- 
formation of  the  mountains  about  the  castle.  In 
fact,  they  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  descend- 
ing inside  by  ropes  from  the  castle  itself. 

"  You  understand  that  they  succeeded,  and  found 
gold  in  large  quantities.  You  will  also  under- 
stand that  they  must  have  confided  their  secret  to 
others. 

"Here  was  an  immense  difftculty.  Had  this 
discovery  been  made  known  to  his  people,  Dylar 's 
community  would  have  been  ruined,  his  plans  over- 
set forever. 

"He  hit  upon  a  device.  He  made  another  visit 
to  the  outside  world,  and  brought  back  seven  men 
who  might  be  called  desperate  criminals.  He 
asked  them  to  work  for  him  five  years,  separated 
from  the  world,  with  no  other  companionship  than 
their  own,  and,  the  term  expired,  to  go  far  away 
taking  oath  never  to  divulge  what  they  had  seen 


164  SAN  SALVADOR. 

and  done.  On  his  side,  he  would  provide  for  all 
their  needs,  and  give  them  a  sum  of  money  which 
to  them  would  be  riches. 

"They  agreed  readily,  not  doubting  but  they 
were  wanted  to  commit  some  crime.  When  the 
term  of  their  service  was  ended,  they  were  no 
longer  criminals ;  and  among  their  descendants  have 
been  the  most  faithful  guardians  of  San  Salvador. 

"These  men  lived  at  first  in  a  cave  in  the  ra- 
vine. Then  thoy  built  them  huts.  Later,  wives 
were  found  for  them,  and  they  made  homes  for 
themselves.  Long  before  the  five  years  were 
ended  the  plain  of  San  Salvador  was  discovered, 
the  city  planned,  and  the  lower  entrance  to  the 
castle  begun.  Outside,  land  was  purchased  and 
cultivated,  and  the  houses  which  preceded  the  pres- 
ent ones  were  built.  Many  new  people  had  been 
brought  in,  and  some  sent  out  to  study  a  handicraft 
or  science.  Building  and  agriculture  were  the 
chief  studies  of  the  people. 

"You  will  see  that  the  story  can  only  be  touched 
here  and  there. 

"Everything  succeeded,  because  all  were  in 
sympath}^  with  their  leader,  and  his  prosperity  was 
their  prosperity.  These  men  and  women  who  had 
found  themselves  here,  perhaps,  for  the  first  time 
in  their  lives,  treated  with  respect,  had  no  desire 
to  withdraw  the  veil  so  mercifully  let  down  be- 
tween their  human  present  and  their  infernal  past. 
They  were  faithful  from  self-interest  and  from  a 
passiona/te  sense  of  gratitude. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  165 

"  Now  and  then  a  new-comer  was  hard  to  assimi- 
late; but  indulgence  was  shown.  A  mind  long 
embittered  may  almost  outgrow  the  possibility  of 
peace,  not  from  any  deformity  of  character,  but 
from  a  profound  sense  of  injustice.  A  man  or 
woman  of  middle  age  who  can  remember  no  happy 
childhood,  no  aspiration  of  enthusiastic  youth  which 
was  not  crushed  by  disappointment  and  mortifica- 
tion, has  amassed  a  sense  of  wrong  which  help 
comes  too  late  then  to  cancel. 

"Dylar's  conviction,  which  still  holds  with  us, 
was  that  a  person  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  become 
an  outcast  from  civilization  is  most  probably  the 
victim  of  some  atrocious  wrong  in  his  birth,  or  in 
his  early  training,  or  that  some  supreme  injustice 
has  been  done  him  later  in  life.  Enlightened  by 
his  own  experience  and  by  subsequent  observation, 
he  perceived  a  wide  and  cruel  barbarism  hidden 
beneath  the  fair  semblance  of  what  calls  itself  civ- 
ilization. Christianity  he  recognized  as  the  only 
true  civilizer ;  but  Christianity  was  an  individual, 
not  a  social  fact.     There  was  no  Christian  society. 

"As  time  passed,  some  persons  of  a  different 
character,  though  all  needy,  began  to  be  drawn 
into  the  Olives,  — a  mourner  who  desired  to  spend 
the  remnant  of  a  blighted  life  in  retirement,  or  a 
hopeless  invalid,  or  some  student  whose  life  was 
consecrated  to  study  and  starvation.  He  was  as- 
tonished to  find  how  many  accomplished  people  in 
the  world  were  poor. 

"He   was,   therefore,  in  no  want  of   teachers. 


IGG  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Some  remained  for  a  time ;  some  never  left  him. 
To  the  latter  only  the  existence  of  San  Salvador 
was  known. 

"In  the  lifetime  of  the  first  Dylar  the  necessity 
for  preparing  for  outside  colonies  was  already  felt, 
and  his  successor  began  them.  He  made  large  in- 
vestments, and  had  agents.  All  young  orphans 
were  sent  out,  and  all  beyond  a  certain  number  in 
families.  Sometimes  a  whole  family  will  go.  Their 
relatives  are  their  hostages. 

"It  was  the  third  Dylar,  called  Basil,  who  built 
the  Basilica.  There  had  been  only  a  shrine  for  a 
throne  of  acacia-wood.  This  throne  Basil  made 
with  his  own  hands.  It  was  he  also  who  planned 
and  began  the  cemetery ;  and  he  was  the  first  one 
to  be  laid  in  it. 

"Basil  went  out  young  into  the  world.  He 
made  himself  first  a  carpenter,  then  studied  archi- 
tecture and  mining.  He  never  married.  I  am  de- 
scended from  his  brother. 

"Volumes  might  be  filled  with  beautiful  stories 
that  were  told  of  him,  and  with  legends,  half  true, 
half  false,  which  the  people  wove  about  him.  His 
sudden  appearances  and  disappearances  at  the 
castle  after  he  returned  to  San  Salvador  were  held 
by  some  to  be  miraculous.  He  lived  a  hundred 
years,  and  was  found  dead  on  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  of  the  cemetery.  There  is  a  grassy 
hollow  at  the  top  that  is  called  'Basil's  Rest.' 

"It  would  be  worth  your  while  to  go  there  some 
morning   before  sunrisa,  to  hear  the  larks.     The 


SAN  SALVADOR,  167 

story  of  his  finding  there,  and  of  the  people  bring- 
ing his  body  down,  is  like  a  song. 

"The  first  and  second  Dylars  called  the  unfor- 
tunates they  brought  here  'children  of  Despair.' 
Basil  named  those  he  brought  'children  of  Hope  '  ! 

"I  have  told  you  that  the  first  Dylar  made 
friendly  offers  and  promises  to  the  man  of  whom 
he  bought  this  castle.  His  acts  were  in  conform- 
ity with  his  words.  He  kept  a  watch  over  the 
family,  especially  after  he  had  discovered  gold. 
He  held  himself  more  solemnly  bound  to  them  by 
that  discovery.  When  any  one  of  them  was  in 
difficulty,  he  went  to  the  rescue.  But  it  was  long 
before  one  of  them  was  admitted  to  San  Salvador. 
Then  a  widow  came  with  her  young  infant.  This 
widow  married  the  fourth  Dylar.  From  the  little 
girl,  her  daughter,  lona  and  Ion  are  descended." 

"  Oh !  "  exclaimed  Tacita.      "  lona !  " 

"Yes,  lona!  In  her  and  her  brother  alone  we 
recognize  now  the  blood  of  the  original  possessors 
of  Castle  Dylar.  Their  presence  here  satisfies  our 
sense  of  justice.  The  girl  I  speak  of  married  in 
San  Salvador,  and  she  and  her  husband  went  out 
to  have  the  charge  of  our  affairs  in  France.  One 
of  their  sons  became  a  messenger,  that  is,  a  person 
who  keeps  a  regular  communication  between  all 
the  children  of  San  Salvador,  reports  births  and 
deaths,  carries  verbal  messages,  and  does  whatever 
business  may  be  necessary  in  his  province.  It  is 
a  messenger  who  buys  and  brings  all  our  supplies 
and  carries  out  all  our  jiroduce. 


168  SAN  S  ALVA  DOE. 

"The  son  of  this  messenger  became  himself  a 
messenger.  He  was  lona's  grandfather.  He  was 
named  Zara  for  a  Greek  friend  of  the  family.  He 
was  restless  and  adventurous,  like  all  his  race.  He 
went  to  the  East.  This  was  in  the  time  of  my 
grandfather.  He  married  an  Arab  woman  —  ran 
away  with  her,  indeed.  But  the  circumstances  of 
the  escapade  were  such  as  to  render  it  pardonable. 

"He  lived  but  a  short  time  after  this  marriage, 
and  his  widow  with  her  only  child,  afterward 
lona's  mother,  came  to  San  Salvador.  lona's 
father  was  a  relative  of  mine. 

"What  lona  is  I  need  not  tell  you;  for  you 
know  her.  She  is  one  of  Nature's  queens,  and  of 
the  rarest;  and  Ion  is  worthy  to  be  her  brother. 
In  both  that  restless  fire  of  him  who,  for  very  im- 
patience, sacrificed  his  birthright  is  intensified  by 
this  spark  from  Araby.  But  they  have  reason  and 
discipline,  and  will  have  opportunity. 

"I  am  telling  you  too  long  and  dull  a  story. 
But  having  these  outlines,  you  may  afterward  take 
pleasure  in  learning  many  details  of  our  history. 
It  is  full  of  romantic  adventure  and  Christian  her- 
oism. 

"Have  I  wearied  you?" 

"So  far  from  it,"  Tacita  said,  "that  I  would 
gladly  listen  longer.  But  you  also  may  be  weary. 
Tell  me,  these  details  of  your  history,  are  they  all 
written?" 

"Not  all.  The  simple  facts  are  all  written. 
Our  archives  are  perfect.     The  rest  is  left  to  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  169 

memory  of  the  people.  We  write  no  books  of  ad- 
venture, and  no  novels ;  but  we  talk  them ;  and  our 
story-tellers  are  as  inexhaustible  as  Scheherezade. 
You  have  not  yet  listened  to  one  of  them,  though 
you  may  have  seen  an  audience  gathered  aboijt  one 
in  the  booths  above  the  Arcade.  There  is  one 
whom  I  must  soon  take  you  to  hear.  He  is  a  gar- 
dener, and  understands  more  about  olives  and  the 
making  of  oil  than  any  other  man  in  San  Salva- 
dor. His  story -telling  is  picturesque  and  poetical. 
He  does  not  change  the  facts,  but  he  transfig- 
ures them.  His  mind  has  a  golden  atmosphere. 
There  is  another,  a  baker,  who  will  tell  you  sto- 
ries as  lurid  as  the  fires  that  heat  his  ovens.  One 
of  the  elders  sometimes  tells  stories  of  heroic  vir- 
tue in  our  pioneers,  or  in  historical  characters  of 
the  world.  When  our  messengers  come  in,  they 
always  give  a  public  account,  sometimes  very  j^ro- 
saic,  of  their  travels." 

"Has  there  never  been  a  traitor  in  San  Salva- 
dor?" Tacita  asked  timidly,  fearing  to  awaken 
some  painful  recollection. 

"Never  I  "  was  the  prompt  reply.  "In  the  first 
place,  even  of  persons  born  here  of  our  most 
highly -honored  citizens,  but  sent  out  very  young, 
no  one  can  know  that  such  a  place  exists  till  he  has 
returned  to  it.  This  is  your  own  case.  Those 
who  go  out  adults  are  persons  who  have  been  tried. 
Any  notable  wealth  or  luxury  of  living  is  forbid- 
den, or  discouraged,  in  our  people;  and  having 
thus  nothing  which  will  attract  flatterers,  they  see 


170  SAN  SALVADOR. 

the  world  more  nearly  as  it  is.  Self-interest  helps. 
Besides,  with  the  training  our  children  have,  no 
Judas  can  come  out  of  San  Salvador.  We  will 
have  no  weak  mothers  here.  If  a  young  child 
show%  vicious  dispositions,  it  is  taken  from  its 
mother  and  carried  outside  for  training.  Perhaps 
it  may  never  return." 

"She  cannot  go  with  it?"  Tacita  asked. 

"She  cannot  go.  Did  she  give  birth  to  an  im- 
mortal creature  for  her  own  amusement  in  seeing 
it  ruining  itself  and  others?  I  do  not  speak  of 
any  mere  infirmity  of  temper  in  the  child,  but  of 
some  dishonest  propensity  which  persists." 

Tacita  bethought  her  to  sj^eak  of  Ion's  affairs, 
as  she  had  promised ;  and  after  discussing  the  sub- 
ject awhile,  they  went  down  through  darkening 
stairs  and  passages  to  where  supper  awaited  them, 
set  out  in  an  illuminated  corner  of  the  great  hall. 

"  I  had  supper  here  that  you  might  see  the  castle 
shadows,"  Dylar  said.  "Seen  from  our  little 
lighted  corner,  all  this  space  seems  to  be  crowded 
with  dusky  shapes.     Do  you  see?  " 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

They  returned  to  San  Salvador  the  next  day. 
The  sun  had  set  when  they  reached  the  town,  and 
the  streets  were  full.  Elena  and  Dylar  dis- 
mounted at  the  college;  but  Dykr  msisted  that 
Tacita  should  ride  to  the  Arcade,  and  he  walked 
there  by  her  side.  She  made  her  little  progress 
with  a  blushing  modesty,  ashamed  of  being  the 
only  person  in  town  who  was  not  on  foot. 

At  the  door  of  the  Arcade  Dylar  took  leave. 

"  I  am  sure  that  you  will  not  go  to  the  assembly 
this  evening,"  he  said,  ''and  I  shall  not  go.  Rest 
yourself  well,  and  to-morrow  I  will  take  you  to 
hear  one  of  our  story-tellers.  To-night  I  —  I  want 
to  remember  !" 

He  murmured  the  words  lowly  as  he  lifted  her 
from  the  saddle,  and  she  answered  them  with  a  lit- 
tle half  sigh.      She  also  wanted  to  remember. 

Supper  was  over ;  and  she  and  Elena  had  theirs 
alone  in  the  dining-room,  talking  quietly  over  their 

journey. 

"You  are  happy,  child?  "  Elena  asked. 

"I  never  dreamed  of  being  so  happy  I"  Tacita 
answered.  And  they  looked  into  each  other's  eyes, 
and  understood. 

Going  to  the   salon,    they   found   lona   waiting 

there. 


172  SAN  SALVADOR. 

''I  suppose  that  you  are  not  going  to  the  as- 
sembly to-night,"  she  said.  "But  I  hope  that 
you  are  not  too  tired  to  tell  me  how  you  like  the 
Olives." 

"  The  little  glimpse  I  was  allowed  was  charming. 
I  never  saw  such  verdure.  The  foliage,  the  fruit, 
were  in  billows,  in  drifts,  in  heaps.  And  how 
I  longed  to  go  to  one  of  those  great  white  houses, 
and  sit  on  the  roof  under  the  palm-shadows.  I 
said  to  the  prince,  '  Why  have  we  no  palms  in  San 
Salvador?  '  and  he  is  going  to  have  some.  I  thought 
of  the  Basilica  as  a  proper  site ;  but  he  doubted  a 
little.  It  is  not  decided.  He  said,  we  worship 
Christ  as  King,  and  shrink  from  holding  the  im- 
pious insult  of  his  martyrdom  forever  before  his 
eyes.  And  the  palm  is  for  the  martyr.  But  the 
palms  will  grow  somewhere,  and  will  be  my  special 
garden;  and  the  first  person  who  dies  in  the  effort 
to  serve  or  save  San  Salvador  shall  be  carried  to 
his  grave  with  a  waving  of  palm  branches,  and  a 
song  of  hosannas,  and  a  palm-leaf  shall  be  en- 
tombed with  him,  and  one  cut  in  the  marble  that 
bears  his  name.  For  that,  I  would  abnost  wish  to 
die  a  martyr." 

"For  that?"  said  lona  coldly.  "The  martyr, 
I  fancy,  is  not  thinking  of  the  crown  when  he 
throws  his  life  into  the  breach." 

"I  was  thinking  of  the  people's  love,"  said 
Tacita,  faltering,  her  eyes  cast  down  to  hide  the 
tears  that  started.  She  was  so  happy  that  she 
could  not  bear  a  check.     Her  heart  had  unclosed 


SAN  SALVADOR.  1T3 

itself  witliout  a  thought,  a  fear,  and  it  shrank  at 
the  little  icy  breath  of  lona's  answer. 

"But  why  do  not  you  ask  me  how  I  like  your 
castle?  "  she  said,  recovering  herself  quickly. 

"My  castle?" 

"Yes;  the  prince  told  me  the  story." 

"It  is  very  true  that  the  original  owner  would 
never  have  sold  his  castle  if  he  had  known  that 
there  was  a  mine  of  gold  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
it,"  lona  said.  "But  neither  did  the  purchaser 
know.  All  was  done  in  honor;  and  the  Dylar 
have  spent  time,  thought,  and  money,  in  compen- 
sating my  family.  I  do  not  hold  that  I  have 
a  shadow  of  a  claim;  yet  if  I  should  to-day  ask 
Dylar  for  a  house  and  an  independent  competence 
outside,  I  should  have  it." 

Tacita  had  already  felt  more  than  once  that, 
however  welcome  her  presence  might  be  to  every 
one  else  in  San  Salvador,  lona  regarded  it  with  a 
feeling  that  could  scarcely  be  called  by  any  warmer 
name  than  indifference.  To-night  her  manner  was 
more  than  usually  stately,  though  she  talked  as 
much  as  ever,  was,  in  fact,  rather  more  voluble 
than  her  wont.  But  her  talk  was  like  an  intrench- 
ment  behind  which  her  real  self  was  withdrawn. 

Presently  she  began  to  question  Tacita  concern- 
ing her  first  journey  to  San  Salvador,  and  especially 
that  part  of  it  made  in  the  company  of  Dylar. 
Where  had  she  first  met  him?  Had  she  seen 
much  of  him?  Were  they  long  in  Madrid  to- 
gether  ? 


174  -S.4.V  SALVADOR. 

Surprised,  Tacita  answered  with  what  frankness 
she  could,  and  tried  not  to  feel  offended.  She 
said  nothing  of  the  hymn  under  their  balcony  in 
Venice,  nor  of  the  picture  in  the  Madrid  gallery. 
The  details  of  the  rest  were  meagre  enough.  She 
had  not  realized  how  little  there  was  to  tell  when 
the  story  was  divested  of  those  glances,  tones,  and 
movements  which  in  her  imagination  filled  out  the 
gracious  and  perfect  memory.  Those  few  facts  had 
been  to  her  like  the  pale  and  scattered  stars  of  a 
constellation  which  to  the  mind's  eye  vivify  all  the 
blue  air  between.  She  tried  to  think  that  in  the 
freedom  and  confidence  of  this  life  such  questions 
were  not  intrusive,  and  that  lona,  from  her  posi- 
tion, had  a  peculiar  interest,  and  even  right,  in 
knowing  all  that  concerned  Castle  Dylar  and  its 
master.  But  in  spite  of  her  self -exhortation  a 
troubled  thought  would  come.  Could  it  be  possi- 
ble that  lona  would  set  herself  against  her  friend- 
ship with  Dylar  ?  Did  she  suspect  anything  more 
than  an  ordinary  friendship  between  them? 

Their  conversation  grew  dry,  and  lona  rose  to 
retire,  with  a  leave-taking  which  could  have  been 
kinder,  but  not  more  elaborately  polite.  Looking 
out,  Tacita  saw  her  go  toward  the  assembly-rooms, 
and  was  glad  to  remember  that  Dylar  would  not 
be  there.  It  was  twilight,  and  at  the  highest  point 
of  the  college  she  saw  his  light  shine  out  like  a 
beacon. 

Seeing  that  light  made  her  forget  everything 
else. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  175 

"  Perhaps  he  will  look  for  my  light,"  she  thought, 
and  drew  her  curtain  quickly,  and  lighted  a  lamp. 
"I  wonder  if  he  will  look!  "  Blushing,  she  passed 
slowly  between  the  curtain  and  the  light,  then 
covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  ashamed  of  her- 
self as  if  she  had  committed  a  sin.  "I  hope  that 
he  did  n't  see  me !  "  she  whispered. 

Soon  after  she  extinguished  her  lamp,  and  sat 
down  by  the  open  window.  At  that  hour  of  early 
evening  San  Salvador  was  as  gay  and  crowded  as 
it  was  silent  and  deserted  in  the  morning.  There 
was  a  sound  of  violins  from  the  Star -house ;  and  un- 
derneath her  window  two  girls  were  dancing,  try- 
ing to  keep  time  to  the  music  that  was  smothered 
by  the  sound  of  their  steps.  There  was  a  murmur 
of  talk  from  soiiie  of  the  near  housetops,  and  the 
voice  of  a  child  singing  itself  to  sleep.  Leaning 
out  the  window,  she  could  see  a  little  farther  up 
the  road  an  open  lighted  booth  where  two  men  sat 
playing  chess  with  a  group  of  men  and  women 
watching  the  game.  An  old  man  wearing  a  scarlet 
fez  sat  close  beside  the  players,  intent  on  the  game. 
The  light  on  their  faces  made  them  look  golden, 
and  the  fez  was  like  a  ruby. 

"How  beautiful  it  is!     And  how  happy  I  am  !" 
murmured  Tacita. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

The  next  evening  Dylar  canae  for  Tacita  and 
her  friend  to  go  witli  him  and  hear  a  recitation  of 
one  of  their  story-tellers. 

The  place  was  a  nook  of  the  ravine  leading  to  the 
kitchens,  and  was  so  completely  shut  in  by  high 
rocks  as  to  be  quite  secluded. 

An  irregular  circle  capable  of  admitting  fifty  per- 
sons had  a  shoal  alcove  at  one  side,  and  all  around 
it  low  benches  on  which  were  laid  thick  straw  mats 
stuffed  with  moss.  In  the  alcove  was  a  chair;  and 
an  olive-oil  lamp  of  four  flames  was  set  in  a  niche 
of  the  rock  above.  These  flames  threw  a  strong, 
rich  lioht  on  a  score  or  two  of  men  and  women  in 
the  circle,  their  faces  shining  out  like  medallions; 
but  they  touched  the  man  who  sat  in  the  chair  only 
in  some  fugitive  line  on  his  hair,  or  cheek,  as  he 
moved.  His  form  was  scarcely  defined.  He  sat 
there,  a  shadow,  with  his  face  bowed  into  his 
hands,  splashes  of  black  and  of  gold  all  about  him. 
He  seemed  to  be  waiting,  and  Dylar  spoke. 

"  Here  is  one  who  waits  to  hear  for  the  first  time 
how  Basil  of  the  Dylar  lived  and  died." 

At  that  voice  the  story-teller  lifted  his  face, 
rose,  and  having  bowed  lowly,  resumed  his  seat. 

"How  did  Basil  of  the  Dylar  live  and  die!  "  he 


SAN  SALVADOR.  177 

exclaimed.  "Ask  of  the  poor  and  the  sorrowing 
how  he  lived.  Ask  of  the  men  and  women  who 
stood  at  bay,  facing  a  stupid  and  dastardly  world. 
Ask,  and  they  will  answer  you :  '  He  was  a  dove 
and  a  lion,  —  a  dove  to  our  hidden  sorrow,  a  lion  in 
our  defense.'  Ask  of  the  heart  bowed  down  with 
a  sense  of  guilt  so  heavy  it  fain  would  hide  in  the 
night,  and  follow  it  round  the  world;  fly  from  the 
light,  and  hide  in  the  night  forever  around  the 
world.  They  will  say,  '  Has  the  Christ  come  back  ? 
Can  a  mercy  so  overflowing  be  found  in  a  human 
soul  ? '  Ask  of  the  children  who  clung  to  him 
when  he  stood  white  in  the  gloaming.  He  was 
white,  his  hair  and  beard;  his  face  and  his  robe, 
they  were  white. 

"The  children  coming  from  school  cried  out 
when  they  saw,  and  ran  to  him.  They  ran,  they 
flew,  they  clung  around  him  like  bees  or  butterflies, 
joyous.  They  held  the  folds  of  his  robe.  They 
pressed  to  hold  his  hand,  and  kissed  it  finger  by 
finger. 

"He  lifted  and  tossed  the  smallest.  'Reach  up 
to  heaven,'  he  said,  'and  pull  me  down  a  blessing. 
Stretch  your  innocent  hands  and  gather  it  like  a 
star -blossom. '  And  then  would  the  little  one,  all 
wide-eyed,  reach  up  and  wait  till  he  said,  'It  is 
done  ! ' 

"'How  did  the  King  come  down?'  they  asked 
him.  'How  was  God  made  man?  '  He  answered 
them :  '  The  sweetness  of  the  Godhead  dropped 
like  honey  from  a  flower.  The  brightness  of  the 
Godhead  fell  like  a  star-beam  from  a  star. ' 


178  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"And  he  would  say  to  them:  'Ask  of  your  an- 
gels how  God  looks.  How  does  he  smile  and 
speak?  For  your  angels,  said  the  King's  Majesty, 
ever  behold  his  face.  Mine  has  followed  me  out 
into  a  century's  shadows,  walked  with  me  out 
through  a  century's  falling  leaves.  But  ask  your 
angels  to-night  to  whisper  close  to  your  pillow,  or 
come  in  a  dream  and  tell  you  what  are  his  hair 
and  eyes,  his  voice  and  his  smile.  Ask  one  time 
and  ten  times.  Ask  ten  times  and  a  thousand. 
Ask  again  till  they  answer,  "  His  face  I  behold  no 
longer;  for  you  are  no  longer  a  child."  ' 

"And  then  their  mothers  would  hear  them  at 
night  whispering  on  their  pillows. 

"How  did  he  die,  our  prince?  How  at  last  did 
we  lose  him? 

"There  was  a  thought  that  hovered,  dove-like, 
over  the  people,  that  Basil  would  stay  till  his  com- 
ing, stay  till  the  coming  of  Christ.  It  hovered, 
coming  and  going,  but  never  alighted  in  speech. 
Quieter  grown,  but  hale,  he  lived  to  a  hundred  years, 
lived  in  ,the  midst  of  his  people,  going  no  more 
abroad.  He  sat  in  the  sun,  or  the  shadow,  judged, 
and  counseled,  and  pardoned,  peacemaking,  scat- 
tering blessings. 

"But  when,  of  the  hundred  years,  the  last  few 
sands  were  sifting,  he  girded  him  for  a  journey, 
and  climbed  the  southern  hills.  After  a  week,  re- 
turning, 'I  bring  you  a  message,'  he  said,  'from 
our  ancient  Mother,  the  Earth. ' 

"  He  showed  them  a  grain  of  gold  as  it  comes  up 


SAN  SALVADOR.  179 

out  of  the  mine,  set  in  the  gray  and  white  of  a  rock 
with  clay  in  the  crevices  pressed.  Pure  and 
sparkling  it  lay  in  its  crude  and  worthless  bed. 

"Said  Basil,  'What  pay  you  for  bread?  Is  it 
dust?  And  for  raiment,  a  crumbling  stone?  For 
house  and  land,  and  a  gift  of  love,  do  you  offer 
dust  alone?  A  careless  kiss  is  easy  to  give,  and 
a  careless  word  to  say.  Will  you  fling  your  dust 
in  the  face  of  God  ?  You  have  gold  in  your  hearts, 
my  children.  Cast  your  follies  away  like  dust,  and 
break  your  pride  like  a  stone.  Dig  for  your  gold, 
my  children,  says  Earth,  your  Mother.  Deep  in 
your  hearts  it  lies  hidden.'  ' 

"That  gold  that  he  brought  is  set  at  the  foot  of 
the  throne,  and  the  words  that  he  spoke  there  en- 
graven :  — 

"'Dig  for  your  gold,  my  children,  says  Earth, 
your  Mother.     Deep  in  your  hearts  it  lies  hidden.' 

"He  went  to  every  house.  Not  a  threshold  but 
felt  his  footsteps.  Children  passed  by  him  in  line 
for  a  touch  of  his  hand,  and  old  men  knelt  for  his 
blessing. 

"He  went  to  the  house  of  the  King,  and  walked 
with  his  head  bent  lowly,  walked  to  and  fro  in  the 
rough  new  building,  saying  never  a  word.  But, 
standing  without,  he  cried:  'My  heart  for  a  step 
at  the  door!  and  my  soul  for  a  lamp  at  the  foot- 
stool! ' 

"He  entered  the  dark  ravine,  he  and  the  sun  to- 
gether. He  was  led  by  the  hand  by  a  sunbeam 
over  the  stony  way.     He  went  to  the  place  he  had 


180  SAN  SALVADOR. 

set  for  the  dead,  where  as  yet  no  dead  were  sleep- 
ing. What  he  did,  what  he  said  thenceforth,  no 
creature  knoweth. 

"Basil,  our  prince,  and  the  sun  went  to  the  ra- 
vine together.  The  sun  went  in  and  came  out ;  but 
Basil,  our  father,  lingered.  Twilight  settled  and 
deepened;  but  Basil,  the  White  Father,  came  not. 
The  stars  came  out  in  the  night;  the  people  gath- 
ered and  waited.  They  whispered  there  in  the 
dark,  and  dared  not  search,  nor  question.  They 
whispered  and  waited  and  wept :  '  We  shall  never- 
more behold  him!  He  has  bidden  us  all  farewell, 
and  gone  from  our  sight  forever!  ' 

"  But  at  the  dawn  they  said :  Awake !  Let  us  find 
him!  Nor  food  nor  drink  shall  be  ours  till  we 
know  where  his  foot  has  faltered.  Homes  we  have 
none  till  Basil,  oar  father,  is  found! 

"The  light  was  faint  in  the  east;  they  could  see 
but  their  own  pale  faces.  They  entered,  a  crowd, 
the  ravine;  they  covered  its  stones  like  a  torrent! 
Praying  and  weeping  they  went,  but  softly,  not  to 
disturb  him. 

"They  reached  the  Mountain  of  Sleep  that  he 
had  chosen  to  rest  in.  Only  one  hall  was  finished, 
one  bed  made  smooth  for  slumber.  Basil,  the 
prince,  was  not  there. 

"But  a  lark  sprang  up  outside,  springing  and 
soaring  upward.  They  followed  his  song  and  his 
flight;  for  he  seemed  heaven's  messenger  to  them. 

"They  climbed  the  rough,  steep  rock;  they  wept 
no  more,  but  they  panted.      Wide  and  bright  were 


SAN  SALVADOR.  181 

their  eyes  with  a  solemn  and  high  premonition. 
They  climbed  to  a  verdant  sj^ot  like  an  oasis  in  the 
granite. 

"There,  like  a  fountain  of  song,  jetting  and 
singing  upward,  climbing  from  song  to  song,  the 
larks  were  bursting  and  soaring  out  of  the  thick 
fine  grass  all  over-floated  with  blossoms. 

"And,  lo!  a  beam  of  the  sun  shot  over  the  east- 
ern mountains,  touched  the  grass  where  he  lay, 
and  seemed  to  say.  Behold  him  I  And  beam  after 
beam  shot  over,  seeming  to  say.  We  have  found 
him!  while  the  larks  sang  paeans  of  joy. 

"The  people  gathered  around,  and  silently  knelt 
in  a  circle ;  knelt,  and  folded  their  hands,  but  wept 
not,  spoke  not,  prayed  not.  Silent  they  gazed  and 
listened,  as  though  on  the  threshold  of  heaven. 

"There  he  lay,  all  white,  in  the  hollow  top  of 
the  mountain,  straight  and  peaceful  and  fair,  his 
hands  crossed  on  his  bosom.  All  white,  save  an 
azure  glimmer  seen  'twixt  the  snowy  eyelids,  he  lay 
in  the  deep  soft  grass  with  the  lark-choir  singing 
about  him,  —  singing  as  if  they  saw  the  dawn  of 
the  Resurrection. 

"As  they  looked,  his  silvery  whiteness  grew 
bright  in  the  sun  of  the  morning.  Would  he  melt 
like  frost,  and  exhale !  Would  he  rise  like  a  cloud 
on  the  sunbeams! 

"Thus  stayed  they  an  hour,  the  living  as  mute 
as  the  dead. 

"Then  one,  not  turning  his  eyes,  spoke  lowly: 
'  He  moves  not,  neither  to  rise  and  speak,  as  we 


182  SAN  SALVADOR. 

knew  him ;  nor  moves  he  to  float  away  and  be  lost 
in  the  air  of  the  morning.  Passive  he  lies,  our 
prince,  in  a  sweet  obedience  to  death.  Passive  and 
humble  he  lies,  obeying  the  law  of  our  Maker. 
Is  it  not  then  that  he  waits  for  his  people  to  bear 
him  downward  where  he  has  hollowed  his  bed,  to  his 
resting-place  in  the  shadows?  ' 

"Then  said  another  lowly,  his  eyes  still  fixed 
on  the  dead:  'Send  we  messengers  down  to  bring 
what  is  meet  to  bear  him.  And  bring  the  children 
to  walk  closest  of  all  beside  him.  For  their  an- 
gels see  the  face  of  the  Heavenly  Father. ' 

"  Then  he  looked  in  their  faces,  and  said :  '  We 
are  faintinof  with  thirst  and  hunsfer.  For  a  nio^ht 
and  a  day  we  have  fasted  and  grieved  and  searched. 
Let  the  strong:  anions:  us  bring:  bread  and  meat  and 
a  litter.     I,  who  am  strong,  will  go.' 

"So  they  went  down,  half  a  hundred,  and 
brought  a  litter  well  woven,  hung  on  staves  of  ash 
wood  strong  and  long  and  polished.  They  brought 
up  meat  and  drink;  and  the  children,  wondering, 
followed,  knowing  not  what  death  is,  not  being  let 
to  know.  They  gathered  about  him  softly,  seated 
themselves  in  the  grasses,  decked  their  heads  with 
the  flowers.  And  in  the  folded  hands  and  on  the 
pulseless  bosom  of  Basil  they  warily  slipped  sweet 
blossoms  of  white  and  blue. 

"For  the  elders  Ivhispered  them:  '  Hush!  he  is 
sleeping !     Hush !  he  is  weary !  ' 

"Then  the  people  sat  in  a  circle,  and  ate  and 
drank  in  silence,  prayerful,  as  if  they  ate  the  Holy 
Bread  of  the  altar.     Ending,  they  rose  and  gave 


SAN  SALVADOB.  183 

thanks;  and  tender  and  reverent,  laid  their  dead 
on  the  litter,  and  took  the  staves  on  their  shoulders. 

"The  children,  wondering,  ran,  lifting  question- 
ing eyes,  puzzled,  but  no  wise  grieving,  and  clung 
to  the  edge  of  the  litter.  They  were  close  to  his 
head  and  his  feet,  they  pressed  inside  of  the  bear- 
ers, making  a  flowery  wreath  all  fluttering  round 
his  whiteness.  And  where  a  fold  of  his  garment 
wavered  over  the  border,  a  dozen  dimpled  hands 
proudly  bore  it  along. 

"So  they  went  down  the  mountain,  weeping,  but 
not  with  sorrow.  For  they  felt  a  stir  within  them, 
a  trembling,  an  unfolding,  a  lifting  sense  in  the 
temples,  a  glimmering  sense  of  kindred  to  clouds 
where  the  sun  is  calling  the  rainbow  out  of  the  rain. 

"There  was  a  woman  among  them,  a  singer  of 
songs.  Basil  had  named  her  the  Lark  of  San  Sal- 
vador. As  they  went  down,  she  made  a  song  and 
sang  it;  and  to  this  day  the  song  is  sung  by  all  the 
scattered  children  of  San  Salvador.  Later  times 
have  added  penitence  and  supplication  to  the  one 
stanza  that  she  sang  to  them  that  day.  Our  hymn 
suits  the  dark  hours  of  life :  hers  was  all  victory 
and  exultation .      She  sang :  — 

'  San  Salvador,  San  Salvador, 
We  live  in  thee  I  ' 

"  While  she  sang,  they  laid  him  in  the  bed  that 
he  had  chosen.  And  when  Dylar,  the  heir,  came 
home  to  them,  '  You  have  done  well  I  '  he  said. 

"Behold!  Thus  lived  and  died  Prince  Basil, 
the  White  Father  of  San  Salvador! " 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

About  a  week  after,  one  day  when  their  lesson 
was  ended,  lona  said:  "I  have  seen  Dylar  to-day, 
and  he  proposed  that  I  should  make  a  visit  with 
you.  Professor  Pearlstein,  whose  class  of  boys  you 
will  recollect,  would  have  come  to  see  you,  but  he 
is  quite  lame.  He  sprained  his  ankle  some  time 
ago,  and  cannot  yet  walk  much.  He  knew  Pro- 
fessor Mora  well.  They  were  boys  together. 
Would  you  like  to  go  up?  " 

Tacita  assented  eagerly,  and  they  set  out. 

"'You  are  going  to  see  an  admirable  person," 
lona  said  as  they  went  along.  "He  is  very  useful 
to  the  community.  He  sets  the  boys  thinking, 
and  guides  their  thoughts,  but  not  so  severely  as  to 
check  their  expression.  He  especially  urges  them 
to  study  what  he  calls  the  Scriptures  of  nature. 
He  keeps  the  records  of  the  town,  and  in  the  most 
perfect  way,  knowing  how  to  select  what  is  worth 
recording.  He  will  make  no  comment.  His  idea  is 
that  most  histories  have  too  much  of  the  historian 
in  them." 

''My  grandfather  had  the  same  opinion,"  Tacita 
said.  "  He  held  that  the  province  of  an  historian 
is  to  collect  as  many  authentic  facts  as  possible, 
and  present  them,  leaving  the  reader  to  draw  his 


SAN  SALVADOE.  185 

own  conclusions.  He  did  not  tliank  the  historian 
for  telling  him  that  a  man  was  good  or  was  wicked 
from  his  own  conclusion,  giving  no  proof.  He 
preferred  to  decide  for  himself  from  the  given  facts 
whether  to  admire  or  condemn  the  man." 

They  reached  the  path  leading  upward;  and 
there  lona  stopped.      She  was  very  pale. 

"Would  you  mind  going  up  alone?"  she  asked. 
"I  do  not  feel  quite  well." 

Tacita  anxiously  offered  assistance. 

lona  turned  away  somewhat  abruptly.  "I  need 
nothing,  thank  you.  Go  in  peace,  since  you  are 
willing.  I  am  sure  that  you  would  have  much 
more  pleasure  in  a  tete-a-tete  conversation  with 
Professor  Pearlstein.     Present  my  salutations." 

Tacita,  feeling  herself  decidedly  rejected,  looked 
after  her  a  moment.  lona  was  evidently  neither 
weak  nor  faint.  She  walked  rapidly,  and,  instead 
of  going  homeward,  had  followed  the  outer  road 
northward. 

The  Professor  was  seated  in  his  little  terrace 
with  a  table  beside  him.  He  was  w^eaving  a  bas- 
ket. Silvery  white  roots  in  assorted  bunches  were 
piled  on  the  table,  and  strips  of  basket-wood  lay 
on  the  ground  in  coils.  His  robe  was  of  gray  cloth 
with  a  white  girdle  and  hood,  and  he  wore  a*  little 
scarlet  skull-cap.  Tacita  saw  now,  better  than  be- 
fore, how  handsome  he  was.  The  face  was  strong 
and  placid,  the  hands  fine  in  shape,  the  hair 
gleamed  like  frost. 

She  stood  on  the  ed^e  of  the  terrace  before  he 


186  SAN  SALVADOR, 

saw  her,  and  was  in  some  trepidation  lest  she  had 
not  taken  pains  enough  to  make  him  aware  of  her 
approach. 

When  he  looked  up  suddenly,  secretly  aware  of 
some  other  human  presence,  his  face  lighted  with 
a  smile  of  perfect  welcome,  and  with  a  faint,  deli- 
cate blush. 

He  brought  out  a  pretty  chair  of  woven  roots 
with  leathern  cushions. 

"The  terrace  is  my  salon,"  he  said.  "And  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  asking  you  to  be  the  first  to 
sit  in  a  chair  of  my  own  making.  Are  not  the 
roots  pretty?  See  the  little  green  stripe  running 
through  the  silver.  It  is  second  sight,  already 
dreaming  of  leaves.  Till  I  began  basket-making, 
I  had  not  known  the  beautiful  colors  and  textures 
of  woods.  It  is  a  pleasant  employment  for  my 
hands.  It  enables  me  to  think  while  working.  Is 
the  chair  right  for  you?  I  am  grateful  to  you  for 
coming  up.  Shall  we  continue  to  speak  in  Ital- 
ian? It  must  come  more  readily  to  you;  and  I 
am  always  pleased  to  speak  the  beautiful  language. 
It  is  not  more  musical  than  San  Salvadorian ;  but 
it  is  richer.  Our  language  grows  slowly.  It  is 
limited,  like  the  experience  of  our  people.  Every 
new  word,  moreover,  is  challenged,  and  tried  by  a 
jury  of  scholars.  We  adopt  a  good  many  imita- 
tive words,  especially  from  the  Italian.  You  wiU 
hear  fruscio,  ciocie,  runbomha,  and  the  like." 

They  S23oke  of  Professor  Mora,  and  Tacita  an- 
swered a  good  many  questions  concerning  him. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  187 

Professor  Pearlstein,  in  return,  recalled  their 
early  days  together ;  and  she  found  it  delightful  to 
hear  of  her  grandfather  as  a  boy,  leaping  from 
such  a  rock,  picking  grapes  in  vintage  time  in  the 
road  below,  studying  in  the  college  yonder,  and 
sliding  down  from  terrace  to  terrace  on  a  rope.  It 
was  charming,  too,  to  hear  of  her  mother  as  a  lit- 
tle girl,  quaint  and  serious,  with  golden  hair  and 
a  pearly  skin,  and  of  her  father  as  master  of  the 
orchards,  with  eyes  like  an  eagle,  and  a  ready, 
musical  laugh.  He  died  from  a  fall  in  trying  to 
jump  from  one  tree  to  another.  "Who  would 
have  thought,''  he  said,  "that  it  is  only  three  feet 
from  time  to  eternity!  " 

"I  am  glad,"  Professor  Pearlstein  said,  "that 
my  old  friend  was  able  to  live  his  own  life  to  the 
last.  It  is  not  so  hard  for  a  student  such  as  he. 
In  such  cases  people  can  understand  that  they  do 
not  understand,  and  they  let  the  student  alone. 
In  going  out  into  the  world,  the  most  of  us  feel  the 
pressure  of  a  thousand  petty  restraints.  I  reckon 
that  I  lost  five  years  of  my  life  in  wondering  what 
people  would  think  of  things  which  they  had  no 
right  to  notice  at  all." 

"  It  is  like  a  person  trying  to  run  in  a  sack," 
Tacita  said,  "or  like  rowing  against  the  tide  a 
gondola  all  clogged  and  covered  with  weeds." 

The  old  man  brought  a  little  table  and  placed 
on  it  a  dainty  refreshment  for  his  visitor,  setting 
it  out  with  a  pleased,  hospitable  care:  a  slice  of 
bread,   a  conserve  of    orange-flowers,   and  a  tiny 


188  SAN  SALVADOR. 

glass  of  wine;  partaking  also  with  her  at  her  re- 
quest. 

"I  always  expected  some  great  discovery  from 
Professor  Mora,"  he  said,  folding  his  arms  and 
looking  far  away  to  the  western  mountains.  "At 
first  1  thought  that  it  would  be  in  physics.  But  I 
soon  found  that  he  looked  through,  rather  than  at, 
natural  objects  and  jihenomena.  Visible  nature 
was  to  him  the  screen  which  hid  the  object  of  his 
search.  I  recollect  walking  home  with  him  one 
day  in  Paris  after  we  had  listened  to  a  lecture  on 
electricity  from  a  famous  scientist.  'What  does 
electricity  mean?  '  your  grandfather  exclaimed. 
He  held  that  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  discovery 
of  truth  is  the  insincerity  of  man. 

"I  liked  the  same  studies  that  interested  him, 
though  my  proficiency  in  them  was  small;  and 
when  I  saw  the  way  he  went,  I  hoped  that  he 
would  set  the  seal  of  his  guess,  at  least,  on  some 
grand  eclectic  jAan  of  creation  toward  which  my 
lighter  fancy  spun  blindly  its  filmy  threads. 
That  terrible  '  I  do  not  know  '  of  his  was  crushing ! 
But  later  I  learned  to  be  thankful  for  one  man 
who  searched  far  into  psychical  and  theological 
j^roblems,  yet  spared  the  race  a  new  theory." 

Tacita  listened  with  pleasure  to  his  dreamy  talk. 
And  she  told  him  of  the  recitation  she  had  heard 
the  week  before. 

"That  flowery  nook,  with  its  larks,  is  to-day 
what  it  was  when  Basil  laid  him  down  there  to 
die,"  he  said.      "The   mountain   is   excavated  in 


SAN  SALVADOR.  189 

halls  that  concentrate  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel, 
with  a  column  left  solid  in  the  centre.  The  hollow 
called  Basil's  Rest  may  be  called  the  npper  hub. 
The  lower  one  is  in  the  centre  of  the  earth. 
There  's  a  narrow  stair  goes  up  on  the  outside." 

When  Tacita  went  down,  she  saw  lona  coming 
toward  her,  seemingly  quite  restored  to  health. 
Her  cheeks  were  crimson,  her  eyes  sparkling. 

"I  feel  better,"  she  said.  "Let  us  go  to  the 
Star-terrace  for  a  view  of  the  sunset." 

They  went,  and  she  pointed  out  effects  of  shadow 
in  the  western  mountains  and  of  colors  in  the  east- 
ern. 

"  I  have  sometimes  an  impulse  to  go  out  into  the 
world  again,"  she  said  then,  abruptly.  "When  I 
was  there,  it  was  during  my  silence.  I  was  there 
to  study,  not  to  talk.  When  we  first  go  out,  es- 
pecially the  young,  we  are  held  to  a  period  of 
silence  as  to  decisions,  opinions,  wishes,  and  plans. 
Obeying,  we  save  ourselves  trouble  and  avoid  a 
good  deal  of  foolishness.  The  story  of  Sisyphus 
is  impressed  on  us  as  that  of  one  whose  first  years 
are  spent  in  a  foolish  effort  and  his  last  years  in 
rej)enting  of  it. 

"The  only  opinion  we  express  from  the  first  and 
at  all  ages  is  that  touching  our  faith.  A  child 
may  reprove  a  blasphemer,  or  assert  its  devotion 
to  Christ  in  the  hearing  of  one  who  expresses  doubt. 
One  subject  after  another  is  freed  for  us,  as  we 
learn  what  the  world  means  by  it.  Of  course,  for 
a  person  of  vivacious  temper  and  strong  feelings 


190  SAN  SALVADOR. 

to  remain  silent,  or  to  say  always,  'I  do  not  know,' 
gives  full  employment  to  the  wdll  and  the  nerves. 
I  used  sometimes  to  feel  as  though  I  should  burst. 

"  Now,  if  I  should  go,  it  would  be  to  speak  when 
occasion  calls,  and  to  act  in  accordance  with  my 
speech.  I  could  call  a  falsehood  a  falsehood,  and 
a  wrong  a  wrong." 

"You  would  have  to  speak  often,"  Tacita  said 
dryly. 

"Should  I  not!  " 

lona  began  walking  to  and  fro.  "I  have  had 
visions  of  what  might  be  done,"  she  said,  her  man- 
ner warming  as  she  proceeded.  "The  time  is  past 
when  San  Salvador  can  be  long  hidden,  when  it 
should  hold  itself  only  a  refuge  for  a  few,  and  a 
nursery  for  a  few.  I  think  that  the  time  is  come 
when  it  should  prepare,  prudently,  yet  with  energy, 
to  practice  a  Christian  aggressiveness.  We  have 
our  little  circles  in  every  part  of  the  world.  They 
are  silent  and  true,  and  they  are  not  poor.  We 
have  no  weak  hearts.  The  children  of  San  Salva- 
dor are  baptized  with  fire.  The  tests  of  our  virtue 
and  fidelity  are  severe.  Our  people  have  never 
occupied  public  office,  because  we  hold  officials  re- 
sponsible ;  and  by  the  world  they  are  not  so  held. 

"  We  have  capital.  It  might  be  spent  in  acquir- 
ing territor}''.  Concentrated,  w^e  should  be  a 
power  in  the  world.  It  is  possible.  I  have  the 
whole  plan  in  my  mind.  I  have  studied  over  it 
for  years.  I  have  settled  where  our  outposts 
should  be,  and  how  they  might  be  strengthened. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  191 

I  would  deprive  no  ruler  of  his  realm;  but  he 
shouki  call  himself  viceroy,  and  sit  on  the  foot- 
stool of  an  inviolate  throne.  I  would  mock  at  no 
faith  of  person,  or  society ;  but  I  would  show  the 
whole  truth  of  which  each  belief  is  a  fragment,  and 
I  would  surround  worship  with  such  a  splendor  as 
should  satisfy  any  lover  of  pageantry ;  and  I  would 
attack  all  organized  wickedness. 

"In  the  early  days  of  our  faith  Christians  did 
not  fear  persecution ;  for  above  the  head  of  threat- 
ening king,  or  pontiff,  they  saw  the  face  of  an  ap- 
proving God.  Only  the  spirit  of  Christ  himself, 
simple  and  literal,  can  reawaken  that  faith.  The 
first  Dylar  said  that  when  he  abolished  preaching, 
and  set  the  words  of  the  King  in  letters  of  gold 
before  the  people. 

"Tell  me  what  to  do!"  said  Tacita,  leaning  to 
kiss  lona's  hand  as  she  passed  her  by. 

lona  paused.  "See  what  I  have  thought,"  she 
said  in  a  softened  voice.  "San  Salvador  is  in  dan- 
ger, and  the  danger  increases  every  day.  How 
long,  with  explorers  and  mountain-climbers  every- 
where, can  we  hope  to  escape?  Already,  more 
than  once,  we  have  escaped  but  by  ahair's-breadth. 
We  hide  by  a  miracle.  Once  discovered,  what 
rights  have  we?  A  vulgar,  if  not  malignant, 
curiosity  follows  you  everywhere  in  the  world. 
Every  kind  of  science  and  astuteness  would  be  em- 
ployed to  invade  and  subdue  us.  Every  sophis- 
tical argument  on  the  subject  of  sovereign  rights, 
and  even  of  human  rights,  would  be  quoted  against 


192  SAN  SALVADOR. 

us.  Fancy  a  man  educated  in  the  tricks  of  diplo- 
macy and  the  falsehoods  of  official  life  coming 
here  and  claiming  the  right  to  investigate  and  com- 
mand, and  bringing  his  subordinates  to  enforce 
submission ! 

"Our  people  are  sent  out  into  the  world  with 
every  precaution.  All  are  placed  above  want;  but 
no  one  is  made  rich  enough  to  win  the  world's 
blinding  flatteries.  Depending  solely  on  their  in- 
trinsic worth  for  respect,  they  are  seldom  deceived. 
But,  known  as  we  are,  even  if  force  did  not  invade, 
what  flatteries !  What  imitations  of  our  ways 
without  the  spirit !  Our  realities  made  theatrical 
by  their  paraphrases  —  it  might  be  worse  than  war. 
Ordinary  society  can  see  no  difference  between  its 
own  fire  of  straw  and  stubble  and  that  primal  fire 
which,  now  and  then,  bursts  through  some  human 
soul. 

"I  have  thought,  then,  to  acquire  all  the  land 
possible  about  the  Olives,  planting  the  plain  and 
peopling  the  hills.  A  mile  or  two  distant  there  is 
a  group  of  hills  much  like  those  on  which  Rome 
was  built.  Our  people  could  come,  not  as  one 
people,  but  as  if  they  were  strangers  to  each  other. 
Those  who  would,  might  even  come  at  first  as  labor- 
ers. We  all  know  how  to  labor.  For  wealth,  if 
we  had  workmen  and  engines,  the  mountains  would 
be  an  immense  storehouse.  There  are  beautiful 
marbles,  and  there  must  be  more  gold.  Then  what 
refuges  we  could  have,  not  hidden  and  crowded, 
but  open! " 


SAN  SALVADOR.  193 

"  Did  yoii  think  to  go  out  into  the  world  in  order 
to  stir  vip  the  people  to  this  movement?"  Tacita 
asked,  when  she  paused. 

lona  had  stopped  with  her  eyes  fixed  southward, 
as  if  she  saw  through  the  mountain-wall  that  meas- 
ureless garden,  and  the  city  of  her  imagination 
shining  in  the  setting  sun. 

She  turned  quickly,  seeming  startled  to  be*  re- 
minded that  she  was  not  alone. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  almost  sharply.  "And  my 
brother  has  told  me  that  Dylar  thought  I  might 
wish  to  go.  He  spoke  to  you  and  you  spoke  to  the 
prince.     Ion  will  go." 

"Ion  feared  to  grieve  you,"  Tacita  said,  sur- 
prised at  this  sudden  address. 

"Dylar  also  had  spoken  to  me  of  it,"  lona  con- 
tinued, her  brows  lowering.  "  He  thought  that  I 
might  like  to  go  awhile  with  Ion.  Why  did  he 
think  so?  I  have  never  spoken  of  these  plans 
to  him.  I  waited  for  other  conditions  to  arrange 
themselves.  Why  should  the  idea  of  my  going  out 
occur  to  him?  " 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  Tacita,  more  and  more 
astonished  at  the  tone  in  which  she  was  addressed. 
"He  said  nothing  of  it  to  me.  Perhaps  he  has 
some  important  mission  for  you." 

"  Why  should  he  intrust  a  mission  to  me  instead 
of  Elena,  or  of  going  himself?  "  demanded  lona. 
"Can  you  think  of  any  reason?  " 

"I  do  not  know,"  Tacita  repeated,  and  her  eye- 
lids drooped. 


194  SAN  SALVADOR. 

There  was  a  moment  of  silence,  and  it  seemed 
to  have  thundered.  lona  gazed  with  scrutinizing 
and  flashing  eyes  into  the  downcast  face  before 
her,  and  seemed  struggling  to  control  herself.  A 
shiver  passed  over  her,  and  then  she  spoke  calmly. 

"  I  have  not  told  you  all  my  mind.  The  coun- 
try I  have  planned  must  have  a  dynasty,  not  a 
luxurious  one  secluded  from  the  people,  but  one 
as  simple  and  law-abiding  as  that  which  rules  us 
here.  But  who  will  succeed  Dylar?  While  I 
planned,  that  became  the  difficult  question  to  an- 
swer. He  has  no  child,  and  seemed  vowed  to  celi- 
bacy. I  thought  of  Ion.  He  alone,  outside  the 
prince's  blood,  might  be  said  to  have  a  certain 
prestige,  though  he  has  no  claim.  Ion  has  force, 
and,  when  he  shall  have  been  tried  in  the  alembic, 
will  have  a  fine  character.  He  has  courage,  mag- 
netism, and  enthusiasm.  It  seemed  certain  that 
Dylar  would  never  marry;  and  I  approved  of  his 
apparent  resolution  and  imitated  it.  It  seemed 
fitting  that  the  two  highest  in  San  Salvador  should 
give  an  example  of  exceptional  lives  devoted  to  its 
cause.  I  had,  moreover,  a  sort  of  contempt  for 
that  maternity  which  we  share  with  the  beasts,  rep- 
tiles, and  insects.  I  almost  believed  that  common 
people  only  should  have  children  and  superior  peo- 
ple mould  and  educate  them.  In  that  frame  of 
mind  I  had  that  foolish  portrait  painted. 

"Later,  I  saw  my  mistake. 

"I  have  called  the  portrait  foolish,  and  it  is  so 
in  one  sense,  in  the  sense  that  most  people  would 


SAN  SALVADOR.  195 

give  it,  but  not  in  the  sense  which  still  to  me  is 
true.  For  I  do  set  my  foot  on  trivial  love  and 
mere  fondness  for  love's  sake  alone." 

She  was  walking  to  and  fro  again,  her  brows 
lowering.  Tacita  sat  mute  and  pale,  the  vision  of 
a  terrible  struggle  rising  before  her  mind. 

"How  perfectly  logical  an  utter  mistake  may 
be!  "  lona  exclaimed  with  a  sort  of  fierceness.  "I 
reasoned  with  myself.  I  made  it  quite  plain  to 
my  mind  that  the  people  of  San  Salvador  needed 
an  example  of  lofty  and  laborious  lives  which  set 
aside  for  duty's  sake  all  the  joys  of  domestic  life. 
I  said,  '  This  people  was  elevated  for  a  century  to  a 
higher  plane  of  feeling  by  such  an  examj^le. '  It  is 
a  proverb  here  that  the  face  of  Prince  Basil  shone 
a  hundred  years  after  he  died. 

"  I  was  half  right.  What  kept  the  Israelites  up 
to  that  pitch  of  enthusiasm  which  preserved  them 
great  so  long?  Not  the  goodness  of  the  mass, 
which  seemed  as  base  as  any,  but  the  divine  fire 
of  the  few.  What  made  the  great  republic  of  the 
west  something  that  for  a  time  was  equal  to  its 
own  boast?  The  greatness  and  disinterested  ear- 
nestness of  the  few.  The  nation  which  has  no  he- 
roic leader  is  a  prey  to  the  first  strong  arm  or  cun- 
ning voice  which  seeks  its  subjugation.  My  plan 
would  have  been  perfect  if  another  leader  had  been 
growing  up,  as  in  the  time  of  Basil,  one  of  unques- 
tioned right  and  character.  But  as  I  studied 
longer,  I  saw  the  flaw.  Ion  has  been  known  here 
as  a  wayward  boy,  though  noble.  Besides,  there 
has  always  been  a  real  Dylar. 


196  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"Gradually  the  question  readjusted  itself  in  my 
mind  without  my  own  volition. 

"  Dylar  and  lona  married  would  unite  the  actual 
right  and  a  shadowy  one  of  sentiment,  and  the  need 
of  a  leader  would  consecrate  the  marriage  as  still 
something  ideal.  Our  son  could  not  be  a  common 
one.  I  would  pour  all  my  soul  into  him.  I  would 
make  him  enthusiastic,  courageous,  wise,  and  elo- 
quent. He  should  go  down  and  work  beside  the 
daily  laborer,  as  I  have  seen  Dylar  do,  till  only 
labor  should  seem  worthy  of  a  crown.  He  should 
be  full  of  fire,  like  the  old  gods.  That  dead  moon- 
like calm  that  people  call  Olympian  is  not  Olym- 
pian. They  were  creatures  of  fire.  They  trem- 
bled with  sti-ong  life  like  flames. 

"It  all  flashed  upon  me.  I  saw  what  should  be. 
But  how  could  I  inspire  Dylar  with  my  thought ! 
A  woman  has  limits  in  such  circumstances.  Na- 
ture im230ses  them.  I  could  only  wait  till  my  plan 
of  empire  was  perfect,  then  set  it  before  him  in  all 
its  splendor.  What  could  he  say  but  'Let  us 
work  together  for  this  new  Eden !  Let  the  future 
viceroy  be  our  son !  '  There  could  be  no  other 
conclusion.  It  seemed  sure,  and  on  the  point  of 
realization.  I  waited  only  for  his  return  to  lay  the 
whole  before  him.     And  then  —  and  then  "  — 

She  choked,  and,  tearing  the  lace  scarf  from  her 
neck,  cast  it  away. 

Tacita  was  deathly  pale. 

"lona,"  she  said  gently,  "may  it  not  be  that 
you  expect   too  much  of   mankind   in  the  mass? 


SAN  SALVADOR.  197 

Can  you  hope  that  any  nation  will  long  keep  its 
ideal  state?  How  many  such  a  bubble  has  burst! 
Human  life  is  not  a  crystallization,  but  a  crucible. 
Your  kingdom  of  Christ  extended  and  prosperous, 
would  it  not  become  a  kingdom  of  the  world,  as  in 
the  past?  It  is  the  old  story  of  the  manna,  food 
from  heaven  to-day,  and  to-morrow  corruption. 
Your  saint  in  power  would  become,  as  in  the  past, 
a  sinner,  and  your  trusting  people,  also  as  in  the 
past,  a  populace  first  of  children,  then  of  slaves, 
and  lastly,  of  rebels.  Forgive  me,  dear  lona! 
Your  vision  is  as  noble  as  yourself;  but  all  are  not 
like  you.  Are  not  you  afraid  to  be  so  confident? 
Your  plan  opens  such  a  field  to  ambition!  " 

"I  was  not  ambitious  for  myself,"  said  lona, 
writhing,  rather  than  turning  herself  away.  "  And 
I  believe  that  rulers  may  be  educated  to  see  how 
much  grander  and  happier  they  would  be  if  the 
love  of  their  subjects  should  exceed  their  fear.  I 
thought  of  the  future  of  our  people  submerged  in 
a  deluge  with  no  counteracting  influence.  Perhaps 
something  suggested"  —  she  turned  again  to  Ta- 
cita,  and  spoke  breathlessly  —  "  When  Dylar  first 
saw  that  portrait,  he  did  not  seem  pleased.  I 
asked  myself  why  he  should  look  so  dark  if  he 
approved  of  my  renouncing  love.  It  was  my  way 
of  silently  telling  him  that  I  would  take  no  lower 
stand  than  his.  I  thought  that  he  would  be 
pleased.  He  had  never  said,  but  had  always 
seemed  to  intimate,  that  he  would  not  marry. 
Once,  on  going  out  on  a  long  and  dangerous  jour- 


198  SAN  SALVADOR. 

ney,  he  said  to  me:  'If  I  should  never  return,  ed- 
ucate Ion  to  take  my  place.'  He  trusted  me.  He 
always  confided  his  affairs  to  me.  I  never  feared 
to  have  him  go  out.  Nothing  could  seduce  him. 
I  felt  sure  that  he  would  return  even  as  he  went. 
To  me  he  was  not  utterly  gone.  I  told  myself  that 
our  spirits  communed."  She  paused  a  moment, 
then  added  bitterly:   "I  thought  that  they  did!  " 

"I  am  no  queen  nor  sibyl,"  said  Tacita  faintly. 
"I  cannot  jndge  of  these  questions;  and  I  could 
never  hope  to  be  able  to  stir  a  man  up  to  great  en- 
terprises. I  am  only  fitted  to  be  a  tender,  and  in 
some  small  things,  a  helpful  companion." 

"You  think  that  I  could  not  be  a  tender  com- 
panion I"  exclaimed  lona  jealously.  "I  have  put 
a  rein  upon  mj^self.  I  will  not  make  my  smiles 
and  caresses  so  cheap  as  to  give  them  to  every- 
body." 

"I  know  that  you  are  capable  of  great  devotion, 
lona, "  Tacita  said  tremulously,  her  eyes  filling  with 
tears.  "Yet  the  hearts  of  humbler  women  may 
not  be  cheaply  given,  though  they  may  be  more 
accessible.  They  may  be  in  something  like  the 
Basilica,  —  I  speak  with  reverence  !  —  no  one  re- 
jected who  wdshes  to  enter  in  kindness,  but  one 
alone  enthroned  above  all  the  rest,  one  to  whom  all 
who  enter  must  pay  respect.  And  perhaps  the 
very  kindness  felt  for  all  may  be  an  outshining  from 
that  enthroned  one,  a  reflection  of  the  happiness 
he  gives." 

"It  is  well  in  its  way,"  lona  said,  trying  to 


SAN  SALVADOB.  .  199 

speak  more  gently.  "But  such  love  is  not  good 
for  D^dar  wlien  our  existence  hangs  upon  a  thread. 
It  is  no  time  for  him  to  think  of  repose  and  tender 
companionship.  It  would  weaken  him.  He  needs 
one  who,  instead  of  weeping  if  danger  should 
threaten,  would  send  him  forth  even  to  death,  if 
need  were,  sure  that  such  a  death  is  the  higher 
safety  for  him,  and  for  her  love  the  higher  posses- 
sion. Yet "  —  she  made  a  haughty  gesture  and 
turned  her  darkening  face  away —  "it  is  not  that 
I  love  him:  it  is  for  San  Salvador." 

"Teach  me  to  be  useful,  to  be  strong,  lona!" 
said  Tacita  earnestly.  "I  would  give  my  life  to 
the  same  cause." 

"Would  you  give  up  a  fancy  for  it?"  asked 
lona,  looking  sharply  into  her  eyes.  "It  is  so 
easy  to  offer  a  world  that  is  not  wanted,  and  refuse 
a  grain  of  sand  that  is  asked  for." 

"I  would  give  all  that  I  have  the  right  to  give," 
Tacita  replied,  and  felt  herself  shrivel  before  this 
imperious  woman,  who  stood  before  her  with  the 
sunset  golden  on  her  head  and  the  shadow  of  a 
mountain  on  her  bosom,  with  her  brow  made  for 
a  tiara,  her  lips  to  command,  and  her  eyes  to  scathe 
with  their  anger. 

"Dylar  has  asked  you  to  be  his  wife?"  lona 
said,  low  and  quickly. 

There  was  somethins:  blade-like  in  the  outcome 
of  this  sentence;  but  it  brought  help  in  seeming 
to  call  the  conduct  of  Dylar  in  question. 

Tacita  folded  her  hands,   raised  her  head  with 


200  SAN  SALVADOR. 

• 

a  dignified  .<^esture,  and  looked  the  speaker  steadily 
in  the  face  without  replying. 

"Ah  !"  lona  turned  away  with  a  fierce  gesture, 
then  returned.  "It  is  not  a  son  of  yours  who  will 
save  San  Salvador  I"  she  exclaimed. 

"Perhaps  God  will  save  it,  lona,"  said  Tacita 
gently,  and  rising,  went  toward  the  stair. 

She  had  descended  but  a  few  steps  when  lona 
followed  her.  "I  hope  that  I  have  not  been  too 
rude,"  she  said.  "Pardon  me  if  I  have  offended 
you  I  The  subject  is  to  me  of  such  supreme  im- 
portance that  I  forget  all  lesser  considerations  in 
it." 

Her  voice,  though  conventionally  modulated, 
had  something  in  it  which  told  her  heart  was  beat- 
ing violently. 

"I  am  not  offended,"  murmured  Tacita.  "I 
respect  and  appreciate  your  position,  your  author- 
ity, your  rights." 

At  the  lower  landing  they  found  Dylar.  He 
looked  anxiously  at  Tacita.  "I  have  been  waiting 
for  you  to  come  down,"  he  said.  "And  Elena 
has  gone  to  order  our  supper  to  be  brought  here. 
We  are  going  to  have  the  sun -dance  in  the  Square. 
Do  you  wish  to  go  home  first?  " 

She  shook  her  head,  and  tried  to  smile.  She 
could  not  speak. 

"I  will  leave  you  both  in  better  company,"  lona 
said  courteously,  declining  to  stay;  and  bowing, 
left  them. 

For  a  time,  ti  Tacita,  it  had  seemed  as  if  San 


SAN  SALVADOR.  201 

Salvador  had  opened  its  walls  to  admit  a  salt  wave 
from  the  outer  world ;  but  the  gap  closed  again 
while  Dylar  attended  to  her  with  a  careful  solici- 
tude sufficiently  reassuring  as  to  his  regard  for 
her,  but  with  no  suggestion  of  fondness.  He  was 
a  kind  friend ;  and  the  cheerfulness  and  decision  of 
his  manner  gave  her  strength. 

"He  is  not  one,"  she  thought,  "to  need  the 
strength  of  a  woman's  will  to  keep  him  in  the  path 
of  duty.  And  she  —  I  am  glad  that  lona  does  not 
love  him.     It  would  break  my  heart,  if  she  did." 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

loNA  went  away  with  a  stately  step,  but  with  a 
brain  on  fire.  It  was  only  when  near  the  Arcade 
that  she  quickened  her  steps;  and  when  inside  the 
door,  she  ran  upstairs. 

Having  found  Elena,  "I  am  going  out  to  the 
Olives  for  a  few  days,"  she  said,  "and  I  want  to 
start  at  once  for  the  Pines.  Will  you  have  Isa- 
dore  called  to  go  with  me  ?  I  will  meet  him  at  the 
water-gate." 

She  waited  for  no  reply,  but  hastened  to  her  own 
room.  In  a  few  minutes  she  came  out  dressed  in 
the  gray  costume  of  labor. 

"Everything  is  ready,"  Elena  said,  meeting  her, 
and  expressed  neither  surprise  nor  curiosity. 

The  sun  had  set,  and  it  was  night  when  lona  met 
the  men  who  had  been  sent  up  to  attend  her.  But 
she  would  suffer  them  to  go  no  farther  than  the 
water-gate. 

"I  know  the  road  well,"  she  said,  "and  am  in 
no  danger.  When  at  daylight  you  see  the  signal 
that  I  am  at  the  Pines,  you  will  turn  the  gate 
again.      It  will  be  sooner  done  if  you  stay  here." 

They  obeyed  unwillingly,  and  she  went  over  the 
wild  mountain  road  alone,  guiding  her  donkey  with 
a  careful  hand,  and  conscious  only  of  a  dull  dis- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  203 

comfort.  It  was  midnight  when  she  reached  the 
Pines. 

"Don't  be  alarmed!  "  she  said  cheerfully  to  the 
guardian.  "I  am  sorry  to  disturb  you;  but  I 
wish  to  go  to  the  Olives.  Go  to  bed  now,  and  be 
ready  at  six  in  the  morning  to  accompany  me." 

The  man  said  no  more.  They  questioned  lona 
as  little  as  they  did  Dylar. 

They  were  in  the  lower  room.  lona  went  to  the 
chamber  above;  but  when  she  heard  the  upper 
door  close,  she  came  down  again,  unbarred  the  out- 
side door,  and  went  out  into  the  Pines.  Space  was 
what  she  wanted,  —  space  and  solitude. 

It  was  a  sultry  night,  and  the  still  air  under  the 
pines  was  heavily  perfumed,  not  only  with  their 
branches,  but  with  the  oppressive  sweetness  of  little 
flowering  vines  that  ran  about  through  the  moss  un- 
derneath them.  A  mist  that  was  mingled  of  mois- 
ture and  fragrance  hung  in  the  tree-tops,  and  above 
them,  dimming  the  stars.     It  was  stupefying. 

lona  felt  her  way,  step  by  step,  over  the  slippery 
ground,  and  leaned  against  one  of  the  great  pine- 
boles,  scarcely  knowing  where  she  was.  There 
was  left  in  her  mind  only  a  vague  sense  of  ruin  and 
a  vague  impulse  to  escape.  She  stood  there  and 
stared  into  the  darkness  till  she  was  faint  and 
weary,  then  sank  down  where  she  stood  and  sat  on 
the  ground.  There  was  an  absolute  stillness  all 
about  her.  The  only  motion  perceptible  was  in 
the  narrow  strip  of  sky  between  the  tree-tops  and 
the  rock,  where  one  dim  hieroglyph  of  stars  slowly 


204  SAN  SALVADOR. 

gave  place  to  another.  Once  from  some  bird's- 
nest  not  far  away  came  a  small  complaining  note. 
Perhaps  a  wing,  or  beak,  or  claw,  of  some  little 
sleeper  had  disturbed  its  downy  neighbor.  Then 
all  was  still  again.  But  the  little  plaintive  bird- 
note  touched  the  listener's  memory  as  well  as  her 
ear.  The  atmosphere  of  her  mind  was  as  heavy  as 
that  around  her  body,  and  the  suggestion  was  dim. 
She  had  almost  let  it  slip  when  it  came  of  itself, 
a  Turkish  proverb :  "  The  nest  of  the  blind  bird 
God  builds." 

It  was  the  first  whisper  of  Divine  help  that  had 
risen  in  her  soul.  Perhaps  then  it  was  an  angel's 
wing  that  had  disturbed  the  bird  in  its  sleep. 

lona  glanced  upward  and  saw  the  pale  mists  be- 
ginning to  quicken  with  the  coming  day.  "God 
help  me  I  "  she  murmured  listlessly,  and  rising, 
went  into  the  house  and  to  her  chamber. 

The  early  training  of  San  Salvador  was  ex- 
pressly calculated  to  give  the  child  a  few  indelible 
impressions.  One  of  these  was  to  do  no  desperate 
nor  extraordinary  act  without  first  taking  counsel 
from  some  disinterested  person,  or  taking  a  certain 
time  "to  see  if  the  King  would  interpose."  In 
absentino;  herself  for  a  while  from  San  Salvador, 
lona  had  obeyed  the  sudden  command  of  necessity. 
But  that  step  taken,  her  instinct  was  to  do  all  as 
silently  and  calmly  as  possible. 

"I  will  not  mention  Tacita  Mora's  name,  and  I 
will  work,"  she  thought.  It  was  the  one  step  iu 
advance  which  she  could  see. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  205 

Shortly  after  sunrise  she  started  for  the  Olives. 
Reaching  the  turn  of  the  road  where  the  green 
began,  she  descended  from  her  donkey  to  walk  to 
the  castle,  and  the  man  went  on  to  make  the  ne- 
cessary gossip  concerning  her  arrival.  For  some 
reason  the  first  step  on  the  greensward  under  those 
gray-green  branches  awakened  her  sleeping  pas- 
sion. Was  it  grief  that  the  peacefulness  of  the 
scene  knocked  in  vain  at  her  heart  for  entrance? 
She  would  willingly  have  thrown  herself  down  in 
those  quiet  shadows  and  wept.  The  strong  check 
she  drew  on  the  impulse  brought  up  its  contrary, 
and  she  laughed  lightly. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  great  circular  ground- 
room  of  the  tower,  nor  on  the  grand  stairs  where 
a  man  might  ride  up  and  down  on  horseback ;  but 
reaching  the  top,  she  was  met  by  the  housekeeper. 
"Take  my  arm,"  the  woman  said.  "You  must 
be  very  tired.  I  saw  you  from  the  window,"  and 
she  gave  no  intimation  of  surprise  nor  curiosity. 

"I  am  tired  and  hungry  and  sleepy,"  lona  said 
smilingly,  availing  herself  of  the  offered  sup]Dort. 
"  I  find  that  I  have  not  had  exercise  enough,  and 
am  too  quickly  fatigued.  That  is  so  easy  with  what 
I  have  to  do.  But  I  have  come  out  here  to  work. 
If  you  will  bring  me  a  cup  of  chocolate,  I  will  then 
try  to  sleep.  I  reached  the  Pines  very  late  last 
night." 

She  went  to  the  chamber  that  was  called  hers, 
drank  the  chocolate  that  was  brought  her,  and, 
overcome  by  fatigue,  fell  asleep. 


206  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"Prince  Dylar  has  sent  you  the  keys, "  the  house- 
keeper said  to  her  when  she  woke.  "He  said  that 
you  forgot  them.  The  messenger  is  waiting  to 
know  if  there  is  any  word  to  take  back." 

"None  except  to  thank  the  prince  for  taking  so 
much  trouble,"  lona  said. 

If  she  were  more  irritated  or  soothed  by  Dylar 's 
evident  anxiety  it  would  not  have  been  easy  to  say. 
The  sending  of  the  keys,  too,  besides  giving  an  op- 
portunity to  learn  if  she  were  well,  was  a  reminder 
of  his  confidence  in  her  and  of  her  importance  to 
San  Salvador.  They  were  the  kej^s  of  his  private 
apartment,  the  treasure-vault,  and  of  the  door  lead- 
ing to  the  ravine  where  a  stream  of  water  still 
brought  an  occasional  grain  of  gold. 

She  opened  the  case  with  a  little  key  of  her  own, 
and  looked  eagerly  to  see  if  there  were  any  written 
word,  snatching  out  the  slip  of  paper  that  she 
found. 

She  read:  "I  think  that  the  late  rains  may 
have  ■  washed  out  a  few  grains  of  gold.  I  did 
not  go  when  I  was  last  at  the  castle.  Will  you 
look?  Dylar." 

Just  as  if  nothing  had  happened !  lona  put  her 
hand  to  her  forehead  and  for  a  moment  wondered 
if  anything  had  happened. 

"I  must  work  hard!"  she  thouoht.  "  'When 
nature  is  in  revolt,  put  her  into  the  treadmill;  '  " 
and  she  went  out  to  see  what  there  was  to  do,  going 
from  house  to  house,  greeting  the  people  and  wel- 
comed by  them.     They  supposed  that  she  had  just 


SAN  SALVADOR.  207 

arrived  from  some  distant  city,  but  asked  no  ques- 
tions, knowing  that  she  was  one  of  Dylar's  mes- 
sengers. 

There  w^as  a  fiekl  of  wheat  ripened,  and  lona  put 
on  a  broad-brimmed  hat  and  thick  gloves,  and  tak- 
ing a  sickle,  went  out  to  it  across  the  vineyards. 
"I  am  to  do  it  all,"  she  said  laughingly.  "Let 
no  one  come  near  me." 

Had  any  one  in  San  Salvador  seen  her  speaking 
to  those  people,  he  would  have  thought  that  he  had 
never  seen  her  so  gay ;  and  had  he  seen  her  when, 
leaving  all  behind,  she  went  out  alone,  he  would 
have  wondered  at  the  gloomy  passion  of  her  face. 

She  put  her  sickle  into  the  grain,  and  bent  to 
her  work  like  any  habitual  laborer.  In  fact,  she 
had  done  the  same  work  before  in  play.  Handful 
by  handful,  the  golden  glistening  stalks  fell  in  a 
straight  ridge  across  the  field;  and  as  the  move- 
ment grew  mechanical,  her  thoughts  took,  as  it 
were,  a  sickle,  and  began  to  reap  in  another  field. 
With  a  savage  strength  it  cut  through  the  years  of 
her  life,  all  its  golden  promise  and  fulfillment,  all 
its  holy  aspirations,  all  its  towering  visionary 
building  which  had  been,  indeed,  but  a  dream  of 
empire  and  of  love.  It  cut  through  the  humbler 
growth  of  sweetness  blooming  like  the  little  blue 
flowers  she  severed  from  their  roots  and  cast  aside 
to  wither,  or  trampled  under  her  feet.  As  she 
wrought  thus,  sternly,  with  a  double  blade,  the 
mental  harvest  even  more  real  to  her  mind  than  this 
one  that  the  June  sun  shone  upon,  her  breath  kept 


208  SAN  SALVADOR. 

time  with  a  sharp  hiss  to  the  hiss  of  the  sickle,  and 
her  heart  bled. 

With  no  cessation  from  her  labor  except  to  wipe 
the  perspiration  from  her  face,  she  reapsd  till  sun- 
set. Then,  after  standing  a  little  while  in  doubt 
what  next  to  do,  she  bent  again,  and  reaped  till 
the  stars  came  out.  Their  lambent  shining  through 
the  fallino'  dew  li2:hted  her  back  to  the  castle.  The 
windows  were  all  open  in  the  houses  as  she  passed 
them,  and  some  of  the  people  were  seated  at  sup- 
per in  their  great  basement  rooms,  as  large  as 
churches,  with  their  rows  of  arches,  instead  of 
walls,  supporting  the  ceiling. 

"Let  no  one  touch  my  work,"  lona  called  gayly 
in  at  one  of  the  windows,  "unless  you  should  wish 
to  bring  in  what  I  have  reaped.  I  have  put  a  cor- 
nice around  the  field.  I  would  have  reaped  all 
night  if  there  were  a  moon.  Good-night.  Peace 
be  with  you." 

They  echoed  her  salutation;  and  she  hung  her 
sickle  on  the  outer  wall,  and  took  her  way  to  the 
castle. 

"Don't  tell  me  that  you  have  had  your  supper!  " 
the  housekeeper  said;  "for  I  have  taken  such  plea- 
sure in  preparing  one  for  you." 

"I  shall  eat  it,  for  I  have  earned  it,"  lona 
replied,  taking  off  her  coarse  gloves  and  straight- 
ening out  her  cramped  fingers. 

But  what  she  ate  she  knew  not,  nor  what  good 
fairy  suggested  to  her  questions  and  answers  and 
remarks  .that   were   to  her  as  dry  as  husks,   yet 


SAN  SALVADOR.  209 

which  served  as  a  screen  to  her  misery.  She 
seemed  to  have  a  secondary  mind  which  worked 
mechanically. 

There  are  certain  proverbial  sayings  which  have 
an  air  of  such  owl -like  wisdom  and  are  such  a  sav- 
ing of  mental  work  to  those  who  repeat  them  that 
they  seem  immortal.  One  of  these  is  that  no  per- 
son is  fit  to  command  who  cannot  obey.  If  it  were 
said  that  no  person  is  fit  to  command  an  inferior 
who  cannot  obey  a  superior,  a  reasonable  idea 
would  be  conveyed. 

Setting  aside  such  cases  as  the  apprenticeship  of 
Apollo  to  a  swineherd,  and  the  voluntary  self- 
humiliation  of  an  ascetic  who  seeks  to  win  heaven 
by  effacing  himself  on  earth,  there  is  no  more  mur- 
derous injustice  than  the  enforced  subjection  of  a 
lofty  nature  to  a  lower  one.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  pride,  nor  of  fitness;  it  is  a  question  of  individ- 
ual existence. 

lona  had  been  like  a  queen  in  San  Salvador ; 
and  she  had  been  a  wise  and  gentle  sovereign. 
She  had  assumed  no  authority,  and  fully  acknow- 
ledged that  she  had  none.  She  was  always  con- 
sulted, and  she  had  made  no  mistakes.  Her  whole 
strength  had  been  expended  to  make  herself  worthy 
of  this  preeminence,  and  she  had  succeeded.  Her 
powers  had  risen  with  the  need  of  them,  and  she 
stood  upright,  sustained  by  this  pressure  from  all 
sides. 

The  pressure  removed,  for  to  her  mind  it  was  al- 
most removed  and  would  be  totally  so,  she  collapsed 


210  SAN  SALVADOR. 

and  fell  into  confusion.  With  Tacita  the  wife  of 
Dylar,  she  took  for  granted  that  her  reign  in  San 
Salvador  was  at  an  end.  For  it  was  her  power 
in  the  community,  she  persistently  told  herself, 
not  her  power  over  the  heart  of  Dylar,  which  she 
lamented.  "It  is  not  love!  I  do  not  love  him!" 
she  had  repeated  a  hundred  times. 

To  her  mind,  Tacita,  however  sweet  and  lovely, 
was  a  girl  of  limited  capacity,  but  also  one  who 
could  assume  a  digiiified  and  even  haughty  reserve 
when  her  relations  with  Dylar  were  called  into 
question.  As  his  wife,  she  might  object  to  any 
other  female  authority  in  the  place ;  and  lona  well 
knew  that  the  fair-haired  girl,  with  her  charming 
grace  and  caressing  manners,  would  win  a  greater 
affection  from  the  people  than  she  herself  would  be 
able  to  win  by  the  devotion  of  a  life. 

She  went  to  her  chamber  with  the  hope  of  sleep- 
ing; but  sleep  was  impossible.  She  rose,  took  her 
lamp,  and  went  downstairs,  meeting  the  house- 
keeper on  the  way. 

"I  am  going  out  through  the  cellar,"  she  said. 
"  Give  me  a  long  roll  of  wax  taper,  and  the  key  of 
the  cellar  door.     I  will  take  care  of  all." 

She  tied  the  great  roll  of  taper  to  her  girdle, 
took  a  little  wallet  and  a  lamp,  and  went  down  to 
the  cellar.  But  instead  of  descending  the  second 
stair,  she  went  along  under  the  damp  arches, 
past  the  rows  of  moist  hogsheads,  to  a  little  stair 
that  went  up  to  a  walled-up  door.  The  stairs  had 
been  utilized  as  shelves,  and  rows  of  jars  and  little 
bottles  of  olives  were  set  along  them. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  211 

lona  cleared  them  all  away  from  the  four  lower 
steps,  and  with  a  deft  hand  took  out  two  or  three 
screws  from  the  boards;  then,  turning  back  the 
three  lower  stairs  like  a  door,  disclosed  a  steep 
stair  underneath  through  a  square  opening.  The 
stair  ended  in  a  corridor  from  which  was  heard  the 
sound  of  waters,  growing  clearer  as  the  passage  led 
into  a  cave  that  had  a  high  opening  at  one  side,  like 
a  round  window,  almost  lost  in  a  long,  close  pas- 
sage that  looked  as  if  broken  in  the  rock  by  an 
earthquake,  louder  again  when  a  door  was  unlocked 
and  opened  into  a  roofless  passage  of  w^hich  one 
side  diminished  in  height  and  showed  a  fringe  of 
little  plants  and  mosses,  and  the  other  soared,  a 
precipice.  Here  was  a  little  hollow  through  which 
flowed  a  brook  coming  through  crevices  northward 
to  disappear  southward  into  crevices.  Where  it 
issued  from  the  rock  in  a  fall  of  a  few  feet  were 
two  troughs,  side  by  side,  turning  on  a  hinge,  so 
that  the  water  might  be  made  to  pass  through 
either.  Both  were  lined  with  nets  that  coidd  be 
raised  and  drained. 

lona  set  her  lamp  on  the  rock,  changed  the 
troughs,  and  carefully  raised  the  net  in  the  one 
through  which  the  water  had  been  passing,  and 
with  a  little  wire  spade  turned  over  the  debris  left 
there.  Where  a  yellow  glimmer  showed,  she  picked 
it  out  and  put  it  into  the  wallet  hanging  at  her 
side. 

The  night  was  so  still  that  the  flame  of  the  lamp 
scarcely  wavered ;  but  she  swung  her  coil  of  lighted 


212  SAN  SALVADOR. 

taper  to  and  fro,  and  round  in  a  circle,  to  catch  any 
glimmer  of  the  precious  metal  hidden  there. 

There  was  neither  tree  nor  shrub  in  sight. 
Grotesque  peaks  and  cliffs  rose  on  every  side,  shut- 
ting her  in.  Scintillating  overhead  was  the  Milky 
Way,  a  white  torrent  of  stars  from  the  heights  of 
heaven  flowing  between  the  black  rock-rims  that  it 
seemed  almost  to  touch. 

The  gold  came  in  glimmer  after  glimmer,  some 
almost  too  small  to  gather  out  of  the  slippery  de- 
bris, others  half  as  large  as  the  flame  of  the  lamp, 
and  brightly  glowing. 

lona's  spirit  revived  a  little.  The  place,  the 
time,  and  the  occupation  took  her  out  of  the  track 
of  her  habitual  life.  She  recollected  her  first  visit 
to  this  place,  when  she  and  Dylar  were  children. 
They  came  with  his  father.  The  prince  had 
brought  her  after  her  father's  death,  hoping  to  dis- 
tract her;  and  while  she  and  the  boy  picked  out 
the  shining  grains,  he  sat  on  a  lichened  rock  be- 
side them,  and  told  how  men  had  spent  their  lives 
in  searching  for  and  compounding  the  philoso- 
pher's stone  in  order  to  make  at  will  this  bright 
king  of  metals  which  they  were  gathering  from  the 
sand. 

He  told  how  kings  and  queens  had  lavished  pat- 
ronage and  treasure  on  such  seekers  after  hidden 
knowledge,  and  the  names  by  which  the  magic 
stone  was  called :  The  daughter  of  the  great  secret ; 
The  sun  and  his  father ;  Tlie  moon  and  her  mo- 
ther.    He  told  them  the  legend  that  St.  John,  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  213 

Evangelist,  could  make  gold;  and  young  Dylar 
paused  in  his  search  to  learn  the  verses  of  an  old 
hymn  to  the  saint  that  the  alchemists  applied  to 
themselves :  — 

"  Inexhaustum  fert  thesaurum 
Qui  de  virg-is  faeit  aurum, 
Gemmas  de  lapidibus." 

He  described  to  them  the  chy  toaij  and  the  hu- 
mid imy,  the  white  j^oivder,  that  changed  metals 
to  fine  silver,  the  red  elixir,  which  made  gold  and 
healed  all  sorts  of  wounds,  the  tohite  elixir,  white 
daughter  of  the  philosophers,  which   made   silver 
and    prolonged  life    indefinitely.       He  told    them 
the  prediction  of  a  German  philosopher  that  in  the 
nineteenth  century  gold  would  be  produced  by  gal- 
vanism, and  become  so  common  that  kitchen  uten- 
sils would  be  made  of  it.      "But  that,"  the  prince 
added,    "will  surely  be  a  gift  of  wrath,   and  will 
come  like  a  thunderbolt.     Men  will  play  with  fire, 
and  it  will  turn  upon  them.      They  will  laugh  in 
the  face  of   God  when  they  snatch  his  lightnino-s 
out  of  his  hand,  and  he  will  reduce  them  to  ashes. 
But  to  him  who  kneels  and  waits,  into  his  hand 
will  God  put  the  lightning,  and  it  shall  be  as  dew 
to  his  palm  when  he  smites  with  it." 

As  he  had  talked,  sometimes  to  them,  and  then 
as  if  to  himself,  to  her  imagination  all  the  space 
about  and  above  had  become  filled  with  watching 
faces.  There  were  pale  brows  over  eyes  grown 
dim  and  hollow  with  fruitless  study;  there  were 
clustering  locks  that  wore  the  shadow  of  a  crown; 


214  SAN  SALVADOR. 

there  were  dreamy  faces  whose  eyes  were  filled 
with  visions  of  the  golden  streets  of  the  New  Jern- 
salem ;  there  were  the  hungry  cheeks  and  devouring 
eyes  of  poverty ;  there  was  avarice  with  human  fea- 
tures ;  and  over  the  shoulders  of  these,  and  peering 
through  their  floating  hair  or  widespread  beard, 
were  impish  eyes  and  glimpses  of  impish  mirth; 
all  which,  with  sudden  explosion,  were  wrap]3ed  one 
moment  in  flame,  and  the  next,  fell  in  a  mass  of 
gold  like  a  mountain,  writhing  one  instant,  then 
fixed.  And  in  the  place  where  they  had  been  re- 
mained unscathed  one  face  still  gazing  in  a  dream 
at  the  golden  streets  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

The  childish  virion  rose  and  fell;  but  it  left  a 
scene  almost  as  unreal. 

There  showed  no  more  si3arkling  points  in  the 
trough,  and  lona  changed  it  for  the  other,  glan- 
cing into  the  second  as  she  withdrew  it.  At  the 
bottom  of  the  net  was  a  spark  like  a  star.  It  was 
a  little  ball  of  gold  that  the  water  had  brought 
while  she  was  searchino-.  She  smiled  at  sio*ht  of 
it,  scarcely  knowing  why  it  pleased  her;  and  in- 
stead of  putting  it  into  the  wallet,  found  a  dew- 
softened  flake  of  lichen  to  wrap  it  in,  and  hid  it  in 
her  bosom. 

"I  will  ask  Dylar  if  I  may  give  it  to  Ion  when 
he  goes  out,"  she  thought;  and  the  image  of  Ion 
warmed  her  heart.      "Dear  boy!  "  she  murmured. 

The  dew,  the  darkness,  and  the  silence  soothed 
her  as  she  walked  homeward.  Seen  from  a  dis- 
tance she  might  have  seemed  a  glow-worm  creep- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  215 

ing  along  the  face  of  the  rock.  Her  lamp  grew 
dim,  and  she  lighted  her  taper  again  by  its  expir- 
ing flame,  and  went  on  uncoiling  it  as  it  rapidly 
consumed  in  the  faint  breeze  of  her  motion. 

Weary,  and  in  some  way  comforted,  she  reached 
the  castle  and  her  chamber,  and  was  soon  asleep. 

But  anguish  woke  with  her,  the  stronger  for  its 
repose.  The  novelty  of  the  change  was  gone,  and 
a  consuming  fever  of  impatience  to  return  to  San 
Salvador  took  possession  of  her.  But  she  had 
come  for  a  week,  and  she  stayed  a  week,  passing 
such  days  and  nights  as  made  her  cheeks  thin  and 
her  eyes  hollow. 

The  morning  she  had  set  for  her  return  she  was 
scarcely  able  to  rise ;  but  at  noon  she  reached  the 
Pines,  and  while  everybody  in  San  Salvador  was 
at  supper,  she  quietly  entered  the  Arcade,  and  sent 
for  Elena  to  come  to  her  room. 

"Give  these  to  Dylar  with  your  own  hand,"  she 
said,  consigning  to  her  care  the  wallet  and  the  case 
of  keys.  "And  please  send  me  some  supper  here. 
I  am  going  up  the  hills  this  evening,  and  may  stay 
all  day  to-morrow.  Whoever  comes  with  my  food 
can  set  the  basket  on  the  terrace,  if  I  am  not  in 
sight." 

Elena  looked  at  ihat  worn  face,  and  could  not 
restrain  an  expostulation. 

"lona,  dear,  you  look  too  tired  to  go  up  there 
alone  to-night,"  she  said.  "Wait  till  morning, 
and  no  one  shall  come  near  you,  nor  even  know  that 
you  are  here." 


216  -S.1.V  SALVADOR. 

"I  should  suffocate'  here  !  "  lona  exclaimed  im- 
patiently. 

Elena  urged  her  no  farther.  "At  least,  make 
me  a  sign  in  the  morning  that  you  are  well,"  she 
said.      "Tie  a  white  cloth  to  the  terrace  post." 

"Yes,  yes!     Don't  fear  I" 

She  went  out.  It  was  twilight,  and  the  windows 
were  beginning  to .  be  lighted.  In  the  Square  she 
saw  Ion  going  toward  the  college.  She  drew  the 
silver  whistle  from  her  sash  and  blew  his  name. 

The  boy  sto23ped,  then  came  running  back. 

"I  am  going  up  the  hills  to  stay  to-night,"  his 
sister  said,  holding  him  in  her  arms.  "Don't  tell 
any  one,  unless  Dylar  should  ask  you.  And  see  ! 
I  have  a  gift  for  you.  It  is  a  little  ball  of  pure 
gold.  Say  nothing  of  it  even  to  Dylar  till  I  tell 
you.  Keep  it  as  a  memento  of  San  Salvador  when 
you  are  far  away.  And  now,  good-night,  my  trea- 
sure, my  better  than  gold!  " 

She  kissed  him  tenderly. 

"O  lona,  why  do  you  go  up  there  to-night?  "the 
boy  cried.      "What  is  the  matter?" 

She  freed  herself  from  him  gently,  but  decidedly. 
"Don't  oppose  me.  Ion.  Do  as  I  bid  you,  and 
say  good-night  now." 

He  urged  no  more,  but  went  away  dejectedly. 

The  cottage  to  which  lona  went  was  a  tiny  one 
with  a  plot  of  herbs  in  front  of  it  and  a  huge  fig- 
tree.  It  contained  but  one  room,  across  which  was 
slung  a  wide  hammock.  She  opened  the  door, 
prepared  her  hammock  and  got  into  it,  dressed  as 


SAN  SALVADOR.  21T 

she  was.  There  was  a  floating  wick  in  a  vase  of 
oil  and  water  that  gave  just  light  enough  to  faintly 
define  the  objects  in  the  room  and  show  a  small 
fragment  of  paper  on  the  floor.  As  she  lay,  glan- 
cing restlessly  about,  her  eyes  returned  again  and 
again  to  this  "paper,  and  finally  with  a  sense  of  an- 
noyance. She  was  naturally  orderly  and  neat  to  a 
fault  even ;  and  now  it  seemed  as  if  all  her  charac- 
teristics had  become  either  numbed  or  fantastic. 
That  scrap  of  paper  grew  to  be  of  such  importance 
to  her  that  she  could  mot  rest  while  it  lay  there ; 
and  having  risen  to  pick  it  up,  it  was  still  of  so 
much  importance  to  her  that  she  could  not  set  fire 
to  it  in  the  little  night-lamp  without  looking  to  see 
what  it  was.  It  was  a  fragment  of  an  old  pam- 
phlet in  which  had  been  an  article  on  mediaeval  cus- 
toms. The  few  lines  remaining  referred  to  a  custom 
in  the  isle  of  Guernsey. 

It  related  that  if  a  sale  of  property  were  being 
made  by  heirs,  one  heir  objecting,  this  non-consent- 
ing one  could  stop  the  sale  by  crying  out:  "J. 
Vaide^  mon  j)rincel      On  me  fait  tort!  " 

She  read,  then  burned  the  paper.  It  was  an  in- 
teresting fact.  She  thought  it  over,  going  to  lie  in 
her  hammock  again;  and  thinking  of  it,  dropped 
asleep. 

There  were  a  few  hours  of  repose.  Then  she 
waked  and  could  sleep  no  more.  The  little  lamp 
had  burned  out,  and  the  dark  dewy  night  looked  in 
at  her  open  window.     She  rose  and  went  out. 

The  fig-tree  before  her  door  grew  a  single  straight 


218  SAN  SALVADOR. 

trunk  to  a  height  of  four  feet,  or  a  little  more,  then 
divided  into  two  great  branches,  hollowed  out  and 
widespreading.  Zona  leaned  into  this  hollow,  hang- 
ing with  all  her  weight,  and  looked  over  the  town. 

"^  Vaide,  mon  jyrince  !  On  me  fait  tort!''''  she 
murmured,  recollecting  the  words  that  she  had  slept 
repeating.  And  she  stretched  her  hands  out  toward 
Dylar's  dwelling-23lace. 

"They  think  that  she  alone  has  powev  to  charm 
you!  "  she  went  on.  "Blind  that  they  are!  And 
are  you  also  blind  ?  They  se^  me  preside  with  dig- 
nity, and  they  think  that  I  am  nothing  but  stately. 
Cannot  you  understand  that  I  am  as  full  of  laugh- 
ter as  a  brook?  I  have  come  up  here  alone  many 
a  time  and  talked  with  the  birds,  the  plants,  and 
the  w^ind.  I  came  to  give  vent  to  the  life  that  was 
bubbling  in  me.  If  I  had  but  shown  it !  If  I  had 
but  shown  it !  The  greatest  force  I  ever  put  upon 
myself  was  to  be  cool  and  calm  with  you.  It  was 
honor  made  me.  I  thought  you  were  resolved  to 
lead  the  angelic  life,  and  I  would  not  by  a  smile, 
or  a  glance,  or  a  wile  make  it  harder  for  you.  How 
could  I  imagine  that  you  would  surrender  yourself 
unsought  to  a  lesser  woman  I  Oh,  I  could  have 
charmed  you!  Cannot  I  call  you  now?  Shall  I 
submit  without  a  struggle?" 

lona  knew  in  herseK  a  compelling  power  of  will, 
without  defininof  it.  It  had  sometimes  seemed  to 
her  that  when  roused  by  some  vivid  interest,  her 
will  had  flung  out  an  invisible  lasso  that  bound 
whomsoever  she  would;  not  so  much,  indeed,  here 


SAN  SALVADOR.  219 

in  San  Salvador  as  out  in  the  world,  where  minds 
were  less  firmly  anchored.  Yet  even  here,  finding 
one  in  a  receptive  mood,  she  had  more  than  once 
made  him  swerve  as  she  had  wished. 

Could  she  not  in  this  hour  of  supreme  upheaval 
send  her  soul  out  —  all  her  soul  —  through  the  space 
that  divided  her  from  Dylar,  make  it  grow  around 
him  like  a  still  moonrise,  find  him  where  he  lay 
thinking,  or  dreaming,  perhaps,  of  that  fair-haired 
Tacita,  reach  into,  shine  into,  his  heart  and  blot 
that  image  out,  gather  all  his  will  into  the  grasp  of 
her  strong  life,  and  so  melt  and  bend  him  that  he 
should  turn  to  her  as  a  flower  to  the  light?  Dylar 
had  a  strong  will.  She  had  seen  him  as  oak  and 
iron.      But,  if  she  should  slip  in  at  unawares ! 

lona  caught  herself  leaning  over,  straining  over 
the  inverted  arch  of  the  fig-tree,  her  arms  ex- 
tended toward  the  college,  the  fingers  cold  and  elec- 
tric, the  very  locks  of  her  loose  hair  seeming  to  be 
turned  that  way,  her  whole  person  having  a  strange 
feeling  as  if  a  strong  current  of  some  sparkling,  be- 
numbing essence  were  flowing  from  her  toward  the 
spot  where  Prince  Dylar  lay  helpless  and  uncon- 
scious. 

She  started  back.  "God  forbid!"  she  cried. 
"A  Vaide,  mon  prince  !  "  The  last  words  came  as 
of  themselves ;  and  her  prince  was  still  Dylar. 

"Yet  it  would  be  for  his  good  and  the  good  of 
San  Salvador,"  she  said,  and  began  to  weep. 

And  then  again,  half  frightened  at  her  own  pas- 
sion, her  mood  changed.     After  all,  was  she  certain 


220  SAN  SALVADOR. 

that  her  fears  were  well-grounded?  What  proof 
had  she?  Nothing  strong  except  Tacita's  silence; 
and  miofht  she  not  have  mistaken  the  sio-nificance 
of  that?  Her  nature  seemed  to  divide  itself  in  two, 
one  weak,  wretched,  dying,  the  other  seeking  to 
comfort,  reassure,  and  save  this  despairing  creature 
from  destruction.  Her  imagination  began  to  hold 
up  pictures  to  divert  the  weeping  child  of  earth. 

She  fancied  Dylar  in  the  first  enthusiasm  of  know- 
ing all  her  plans.  He  would  adore  her.  But 
there  should  be  no  silly  dalliance.  For,  "I  do  not 
love  him  in  that  way,"  she  still  persisted.  When 
she  should  crown  herself  with  the  white  betrothal 
roses  that  must  be  gathered  by  her  own  hand,  it 
would  be  with  the  thought  of  authority  wearing  the 
crown  of  pure  justice.  When  she  should  assume 
the  rose-colored  robe  and  veil  of  a  bride,  it  would 
be  to  her  a  figure  of  that  charity  all  over  the  world 
which  it  would  be  the  aim  of  her  life  to  promote. 
Both  she  and  Dylar  would  be  stronger  for  this 
companionship ;  and  she  would  be,  not  only  his  in- 
spirer,  but  his  soothing  and  comforting  friend  also. 
Every  lion  in  his  path  should  become  his  beehive. 
When  he  was  weary  of  empire  she  would  charm 
him  with  many  a  folly.  For  sometimes  he  would 
be  depressed,  perhaps,  even  out  of  temper.  It  was 
delicious  to  think  of  him  so  —  as  quite  a  common 
man  —  for  a  little  while.  It  would  be  the  dear  lit- 
tle flaw  in  her  gem. 

All  should  come  as  she  had  planned.  Their 
colonies  should  condense  in  the  plain  and  on  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  221 

hills  outside,  little  by  little,  stealing  in  as  silent  as 
mists,  not  seeming  one,  but  as  strangers  to  each 
other.  Here  at  San  Salvador  should  be  their 
stronghold,  as  now,  and  their  inmost  sanctuary. 
But  they  would  live  outside,  on  a  hill,  or  going 
from  place  to  place.  When  all  was  well  ordered 
without,  they  would  come  back  for  a  while,  and  she 
would  lead  Dylar  to  some  height,  to  the  summit  of 
the  North  Peak,  where  there  should  be  a  mirador, 
and  pointing  to  their  colonies  embossing  the  whole 
circle  even  to  the  horizon,  she  would  say :  "  Behold 
the  marriage-portion  I  brought  you  !"  She  would 
tell  him  of  a  time  when,  their  earthly  lives  ended, 
they  might  be  borne,  like  Serapeon,  over  mountain 
top  and  plain,  while  their  son  — 

Their  son  ! 

Her  fancy  descended  from  its  cold  mountain 
height  to  a  green  hollow  in  the  hills,  and  a  cooing 
of  doves,  and  a  veil  of  heliotrope  shutting  them  in. 
She  hung  over  the  face  of  the  child.  His  cradle 
should  be  formed  like  a  lotos-flower,  and  there  he 
should  sit  enthroned  like  Horus,  the  young  Day. 
As  her  fancy  dwelt  on  him,  he  grew,  —  a  youth 
with  inspiration  shining  in  his  eyes,  a  man,  with 
command  on  his  brow.  He  should  bring  in  a 
golden  age.  Peace  and  brotherly  love  prevailing 
should  make  men  look  upon  their  past  lives  as  the 
lives  of  wolves.  He  should  wear  white  while 
young,  and  purple  when  he  began  to  take  the  reins 
of  government.  The  white  should  have  a  violet 
border. 


222  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Here  the  dreamer's  fancy  seemed  to  stumble  as 
if  caught  in  the  train  of  a  white  robe  with  a  violet 
border  that  brought  some  disenchanting  reminis- 
cence in  its  folds. 

It  was  the  robe  that  Tacita  had  worn  the  last 
time  they  met  at  the  assembly,  and  she  had  looked 
like  a  Psyche  in  it. 

As  that  figure  floated,  smiling,  into  her  dream, 
lona's  empire  crumbled,  her  lover  became  a  mock- 
ing delusion,  her  shining  babe  faded  to  a  snow-drop 
broken  from  its  stem,  her  enthusiastic  youth  shrank 
like  dry  leaves,  her  purple-robed  prince  fell  with  a 
crash  at  her  feet. 

'^A— a— a— i!" 

It  was  almost  like  the  growl  and  spring  of  the 
tiger.  But  the  rein  was  drawn  as  involuntarily  as 
a  falling  person  seeks  to  maintain  his  equilibrium. 

":4  Faide,  mon  Roil'''  she  cried,  and  stretched 
her  hands  out,  not  toward  Dylar,  but  toward  the 
Basilica,  showing  faint  and  ghost-like  against  the 
western  mountains.  "^4  V aide.,  mon  Dieu!^^  and 
lifted  her  face  to  heaven. 

To  a  strong,  high  soul,  despair  is  impossible. 
However  dark  the  overhanging  cloud,  it  never  be- 
lieves that  there  is  no  help.  It  has  felt  its  own 
wings  in  the  sunshine,  and  it  knows  that  somewhere 
there  must  be  a  way  for  them  to  lift  it  out  of  the 
storm. 

But  where  ? 

"My  father  told  me  to  do  without  love,  if  I 
could,"  thought  lona,  and  sank  down,  and  sat  lean- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  223 

ing  against  the  tree.  The  time-blurred  image  of 
that  father  rose  before  her  mind,  and  the  scenes 
following  his  death.  Of  her  life  with  him,  excejit 
that  it  was  happy,  she  could  recollect  nothing  defi- 
nite. With  the  egotism  and  ignorance  of  youth  she 
had  taken  a  father's  loving  presence  for  granted, 
as  she  had  taken  sunshine  and  air.  He  had  died 
at  Castle  Dylar,  and  she  was  with  him.  His  ill- 
ness was  brief,  she  had  scarcely  known  that  he  was 
ill.     For  one  day  only  she  had  not  seen  him. 

She  seemed  again  to  stand,  a  child,  in  the  middle 
of  the  great  salon,  looking  at  a  closed  door.  The 
prince  held  her  hand  and  murmured  words  of  con- 
solation. Her  playmate,  young  Dylar,  stood  at 
a  distance  wistfully  gazing  at  them.  She  did  not 
understand  for  what  she  needed  to  be  consoled ;  but 
an  undefined  dread  oppressed  her. 

"What  is  in  that  room?"  asked  the  child  with  a 
gloomy  imperiousness.  "They  close  the  door,  and 
tell  me  not  to  open  it." 

"Only  a  mortal  body  from  which  the  soul  has 
fled,"  said  the  prince.'  "Your  real  father  has  gone 
to  see  the  King,  to  see  your  dear  mother ;  and  both, 
unseen,  will  watch  over  you  and  your  little  brother. 
Do  not  you  want  to  go  home  and  see  poor  little 
Ion?     He  is  alone." 

"I  want  to  see  my  father's  body,"  said  the  child. 

"lona,  he  sleeps!  "  % 

"Wake  him,  then!"  she  cried.  "Or,  no.  I 
will  be  quiet  and  let  him  sleep.  I  will  sit  by  him 
till  he  wakes." 


224  SAN  SALVADOR. 

Dvlar  looked  distressed.  "Dear  child,  no  one 
ever  wakes  from  that  sleep,  it  is  so  full  of  peace 
and  rest.  His  heart  does  not  beat.  His  hands 
are  as  cool  as  dew." 

"Wake  him!  "  she  cried,  beginning  to  sob;  and, 
snatphing  her  hand  away,  ran  to  beat  on  the  door, 
and  call  "Father!  Father!"  with  an  awful  pause 
of  silence  between  one  call  and  the  other.  "If  he 
were  warm  he  would  speak.  Give  him  wine !  I 
can  make  his  heart  beat.  Let  me  in  I  I  will  go  to 
him!" 

"Nothing  can  make  the  body  warm  when  the 
soul  has  gone  out  of  it,"  said  Dylar,  following  her 
to  the  door.  "It  is  like  a  candle  that  is  not 
lighted." 

"If  I  kiss  him,  he  will  light,"  persisted  the 
child.      "He  always  does." 

"His  light  is  in  the  court  of  the  King,"  said 
Dylar.      "You  must  not,  cannot  call  it  back." 

The  child  stood  silent  a  moment,  a  statue  of  re- 
bellious grief,  trying  to  understand  the  cold  science 
of  death,  now  for  the  first  time  presented  to  her. 
Then,  with  something  more  of  self  control,  she 
asked :  — 

"Can  I  make  the  King  give  back  his  soul,  in 
any  way?  no  matter  if  it  is  not  by  being  good. 
Coidd  I  by  being  wicked?     I  am  not  afraid." 

"  By  being  bad  'you  would  only  separate  your- 
self still  more  from  your  father.  My  child,  he 
was  not  torn  away.  He  went  submissively,  obedi- 
ently.    He  bade  me  love  you  as  my  own  child,  and 


SAN  SALVADOR.  225 

I  will.     The  King  took  him  gently  by  the  hand. 
Wait  a  little  while,  and  he  will  come  for  you." 

The  child's  head  drooped.  She  leaned  against 
the  door,  putting  her  arms  up  to  it  in  a  vain  and 
empty  embrace.  "I  want  to  go  in  !  "  she  said 
faintly. 

The  prince  opened  the  door  and  led  her  in. 
A  white-veiled  shape  lay  stretched  out  on  a  nar- 
row bed.     The  prince  folded  back  a  cloth,  and  the 
child's  dilating  eyes,  startled  and  awe  -  stricken, 
looked  for  the  first  time  on  death. 
*'Is  it  a  statue?  "  she  whispered. 
"It  is  his  own  body  in  its  long  sleep." 
"I  have  always  seen  him  breathe,"  she  whispered, 
looking  up  at  her  guardian  with  frightened  eyes. 
"His  breast  went  up  and  down  —  so !  "  she  panted. 
"I  felt  it  when  he  held  me  in  his  arms.      I  did  not 
know  that  it  could  stop." 

Sobs  broke  out.  She  threw  herself  on  to  the  cold 
breast  and  clung  to  it.  "He  spoke;  and  I  thought 
that  it  was  a  little  thing,"  she  cried,  in  a  storm  of 
tears.  "Sometimes  I  did  not  listen.  I  thousfht 
that  I  coidd  always  hear  him  speak.  Sometimes 
he  told  me  to  do  a  thing,  and  I  said  no.  I  did  not 
think  that  he  would  ever  be  '  no  '  to  me.  He  is 
all  '  No  1 '  Speak  one  word,  father !  It  is  lona. 
Why  can  he  not  speak  ?  This  is  his  hair,  his  face, 
his  own  self,  —  all  but  the  cold !  " 

"He  cannot  hear  you,"  said  the  prince. 
The  child  rose    and   looked  wildly  about.      "I 
would  climb  over  all  these  mountains,  barefoot  and 
alone  in  the  dark,  to  hear  him  say  one  word  I  " 


22(3  SAN  SALVADOR. 

And  then,  in  that  day  of  revelations,  there  was 
yet  another  which  startled  her  for  a  moment  out 
of  her  own  grief.  For  Prince  Dylar,  raising  his 
arms  and  his  face  upward,  exclaimed  with  passion : 
"O  Heavenly  Father,  do  w^e  not  expiate  the  sin, 
whatever  it  was!  "  and  for  the  first  time  she  saw  a 
man  weep. 

How  vividly  it  all  rose  before  her!  How  like 
was  that  child  to  herself  I 

"  How  glad  I  am  that  I  put  my  arms  around  him 
and  tried  to  comfort  him!  "  she  thought. 

"My  heart  has  been  broken  once  before,  and  it 
healed,"  she  said,  and  returned  to  the  present, 
where  her  mind  swung  idly  to  and  fro,  like  a  pen- 
dulum, counting  mechanically  the  minutes. 

The  dawn  began.  It  was  not  like  the  tingling 
white  fire,  alive  to  its  faintest  wave,  of  dawns  that 
she  had  seen.     It  was  still  and  solemn. 

"^  raide,  man  Roi,  man  Dieu ! ''  lona  mur- 
mured drearily;  and  speaking,  remembered  the 
invitation:  Come  unto  ?ne,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy  laden ^  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 

What  did  it  mean?  She  understood  duty  and 
obedience  toward  God ;  but  an  ardent  worship  of 
the  whole  being,  a  clinging  of  the  spirit  through 
the  sense,  she  did  not  understand.  It  had  seemed 
to  her  material  and  unworthy.  She  forgot  that  the 
sense  also  is  the  work  of  God.  The  spirit  should 
rise  above  the  sense,  leaving  it  behind,  despising 
it,  she  had  thought ;  but  to  lift  the  sense  also,  to 
bathe  it  in  that  fire  that  burns  not,  to  lead  it  by  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  227 

hand,  like  a  poor  lame  sister,  into  the  healing  Pres- 
ence, that  she  knew  not.  Her  worship  dispersed 
itself  in  air. 

"I  will  go  to  him!"  she  said.  "But  where? 
He  is  everywhere;  therefore  he  is  here." 

She  knelt,  folded  her  hands,  and  said,  "Help 
me,  O  Lord!  for  I  am  in  bitter  need,"  and  said 
it  wearily.  The  universal  affirmation  of  his  pres- 
ence had  for  effect  only  universal  negation.  She 
did  not  find  him. 

The  dawn  grew.  She  rose  from  her  knees, 
weary  and  faint.  "How  are  we  to  know  when 
God  helps  us?  Perhaps  when  some  path  shall  be 
opened  for  me  out  of  this  labyrinth.  Is  this  all 
that  religion  can  give  me  ?  —  the  patience  of  ex- 
haustion, or  the  apathy  of  resignation?  Is  this 
rest?  No  matter!  I  will  obey.  I  •will  ask  help 
every  day,  and  try  to  do  my  duty.  What  is  meant 
by  loving  God?  I  cannot  love  all  out-doors.  If 
Christ  were  here  as  he  was  once  upon  the  earth,  he 
would  not  make  me  wait  one  hour  with  my  heart 
all  lead.  If  he  were  here !  Oh,  I  would  walk  all 
barefoot  and  alone  in  the  dark  over  the  mountains, 
over  the  world,  to  hear  him  speak  one  word!  " 

The  sun  rose,  and  its  golden  veil  was  let  do^Ti 
slowly  over  the  western  mountains,  creeping  toward 
the  Basilica.  When  it  touched,  she  could  see 
from  where  she  stood  in  her  door  the  sparkling  of 
the  crown-jewels.     They  seemed  to  rejoice. 

"I  will  go  to  his  house  to  ask  help,"  said  lona. 
"Why  should  he  have  a  house  among  us,  if  not  to 


228  SAN  SALVADOR. 

give  audience  there  to  his  children!     But  now  I 
must  sleep." 

She  went  to  tie  her  handkerchief  on  the  little 
balustrade  of  her  terrace  for  a  sign  to  Elena,  and 
returning,  closed  the  door,  leaving  the  window  ajar. 
Getting  into  her  hammock  then,  she  swung  herself 
to  sleep. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  she  waked,  and 
the  sun  was  shining  into  the  room  in  a  long, 
brisfht  bar  throuo^h  the  window.  In  the  midst  of 
that  light  was  the  shadow  of  a  head.  As  she 
looked  at  the  shadow-head  it  turned  aside  in  a  lis- 
tening attitude. 

lona  rose  and  opened  the  door,  and  Ion  sprang 
up  joyfully.  He  had  brought  her  breakfast  and 
left  it  outside  the  door,  and  come  again  with  her 
dinner,  both  waiting  untasted. 

"I  peeped  in  and  saw  that  you  were  asleep,"  he 
said.      "  Are  you  not  hungry  ?  " 

She  ate  something,  not  more  from  faintness  than 
to  please  him. 

"I  was  so  tired.  I  worked  hard  at  the  Olives, 
and  did  not  sleep  till  late.  And  now,  dear  boy,  go 
down.  I  have  something  to  do,  and  something  for 
you  to  do.  To-night,  after  the  people  are  out  of 
the  street,  I  am  going  to  the  Basilica.  I  wish  to 
go  alone.  When  the  portal  is  closed,  get  the  key 
of  the  south  side  door,  and  leave  it  in  the  lock. 
Thank  you  for  coming  up !  You  are  always  good 
to  lona!" 

She  kissed  him  smilingly,  and  let  him  go. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

In  a  great  mental  upheaval,  to  be  able  to  decide, 
even  on  a  point  of  secondary  importance,  is  help- 
ful.    It  is  like  a  plank  to  the  shipwrecked. 

Such  to  her  was  lona's  resolution  to  go  to  the 
Basilica  and  watch  all  night.  Christ  had  said 
"Come  !"  and  she  would  go  as  near  to  him  as  she 
knew  how.  '  The  sense  of  blind  obedience  was  rest- 
ful. She  looked  across  the  town,  and  a  certain 
peacefulness  seemed  to  hover  over  the  white  build- 
ing beyond  the  river.  She  thought  herself  like 
that  river,  flowing  in  silent  shadow  now  after  a 
wild  rush  from  height  to  depth,  and  through  dark 
and  stormy  ways. 

There  was  no  assembly  that  evening,  and  the 
avenue  and  square  were  unlighted.  But  the  roof- 
terraces  were  populous,  and  a  murmur  of  voices 
and  of  music  came  from  them.  They  called  to 
each  other  across  the  narrow  streets;  and  when 
some  one  sang  to  mandolin  or  guitar  in  one  terrace, 
the  near  ones  hushed  themselves  to  listen.  It 
seemed  to  lona  like  something  that  she  had  heard 
of  long  before,  it  was  so  far  away,  and  had  so  lost 
its  spirit  and  color. 

There  are  times  when  to  hear  laughter  gives  one 
a  feeling  of  terror  such  as  might  be  felt  if  it  came 


230  SAN  SALVADOR. 

from  a  train  of  cars  about  to  roll  down  a  precipice. 
When  Dante  came  up  from  the  Inferno,  careless 
lauo'hter  must  have  affected  him  so. 

As  lona  entered  the  Basilica,  locking  the  door 
behind  her,  the  sweet,  true  word  of  an  English 
writer  recurred  to  her:  "Solitude  is  the  ante- 
chamber to  the  presence  of  God." 

She  knelt  before  the  Throne  a  moment;  then, 
seating  herself  on  the  cushioned  step,  waited  for 
some  plan  of  life  to  suggest  itself  to  her  as  possible 
and  tolerable. 

"It  must  be  outside  the  mountains,"  she  began, 
then  checked  herself.  "It  shall  be  where  God 
wills." 

But,  oh,  the  torment  of  it!  The  utter  collapse 
of  all  spirit  and  elasticity ! 

The  shadows  of  the  portal  came  up  to  fall  before 
the  light  of  the  tribune,  and  the  light  went  down 
to  meet  the  shadows.  Darker  slanting  shadows  of 
columns  crossed  the  dim  side  aisles.  There  were 
panels  of  deep,  rich  color  between,  growing 
brighter  toward  the  tribune.  On  the  balustrades 
were  thirty-three  lamps,  one  for  each  year  of  the 
King's  life.  They  climbed  in  a  narrowing  flame- 
shape  with  the  Throne  and  the  tiara.  In  the  jew- 
els a  sleeping  rainbow  stirred. 

lona  rose  and  wandered  about  the  church. 
What  more  could  she  say,  or  do  ?  Was  she  to  go 
out  as  blind  and  unconsoled  as  she  had  entered? 
The  silence  was  terrible.  It  occurred  to  her  that 
having  had  no  conscious  and  pressing  need  of  God, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  281 

she  had  gone  on  fancying  herself  in  communion 
with  him  when  there  had  been  no  living  communion. 

"  Do  we,  indeed,  know  that  God  whom  we  pro- 
fess to  believe  in?"  she  asked  herself.  "Have  I 
not  as  'ignorantly  worshiped'  him  as  did  the 
Athenians  of  St.  Paul's  time?  Oh,  if  I  find  him 
not  to-night,  I  shall  die!  " 

Passing  up  a  side  aisle,  she  paused  before  the 
picture  of  a  tiger  there,  which  stood  in  a  strong 
light,  and  stared  at  the  Throne.  She  lifted  her 
hand  to  pat  his  head,  and  whispered,  half  smiling, 
""  Have  you  found  the  secret,  brother?  "  Then  she 
went  on  and  knelt  again  before  the  tribune,  ques- 
tioning :  — 

"Who,  then,  have  I  come  here  to  seek,  and 
what?  A  glorious  and  triumphant  Deity?  Some- 
thing more,  indeed !  I  seek  one  who  knows  sorrow, 
poverty,  and  betrayal.  Where  is  he?  Where  is 
the  compassion,  the  power,  the  voice  of  him?  I 
must  find  him,  meet  him!     Where  is  he?" 

She  set  herself  to  call  up  some  image  of  him  as 
human  creatures  had  seen  him  face  to  face  in  their 
need.  She  recalled  other  vigils  of  knight,  crusa- 
der, mourner,  and  sinner.  Above  all  was  the  su- 
preme vigil  of  Mary  Magdalen. .  Ah,  what  a  night 
of  anguish !  Ah,  what  a  rapturous  morn !  To  hear 
him  speak  her  name  as  he  uttered  that  "Mary!" 
on  the  first  Easter  morning  would  be  better  than  a 
thousand  princes  of  her  blood  ruling  through  ten 
thousand  years,  would  be  better  than  to  have 
Dylar  look  at  her  with  love's  delight. 


232  SAN  SALVADOR. 

She  evoked  that  scene  out  of  the  past,  —  the 
chill,  dewy  garden,  the  lonely  sepulchre,  the  dull 
hour  before  dawn.  The  present  faded  from  her 
view.  Gleam  of  gold  and  sparkle  of  jewel,  she  set 
them  aside.  Blotting  out  the  glow  of  lamps  and 
the  glimmer  of  marble,  it  came.  She  was  in  the 
garden  with  Mary  Magdalen.  The  stone  was 
rolled  away,  she  heard  the  woman's  bitter  outcry: 
27iey  have  taken  my  Lord  away^  and  I  know  not 
where  they  have  laid  him  ! 

Darkness,  sorrow,  and  desolation  reigned.  Even 
the  Magdalen,  weeping  bitterly,  departed.  She 
was  alone  before  an  empty  sepulchre. 

Said  faith:  "He  is  here  even  as  he  was  there, 
the  same.  He  is  invisibly  here  in  this  place,  even 
as  he  was  there.  If  he  be  God,  he  is  here.  Hush, 
my  soul!     He  is  here!     He  is  here!  " 

A  Presence  grew  in  the  place,  felt  by  her  whole 
being,  a  sense  of  life,  gentle  and  potent.  Seen 
by  her  soul,  Christ  stood  there  looking  at  her,  and 
waiting  to  hear  what  she  might  say. 

She  stretched  her  hands  out  to  him  with  a  wild 
burst  of  tears.      "What  shall  I  do?  "  she  sobbed. 

And,  oh,  wonder  of  wonders !  A  voice  "  still  and 
small,"  —  the  voice  that  was  heard  by  Elijah,  — a 
voice  more  distinct  to  her  soul  and  her  senses  than 
her  own  sobbing  question  had  been,  answered  her ! 

The  angel  of  truth  guides  the  pen  with  which  I 
write  these  words  ! 

The  voice  came  not  from  the  shadows  where  she 
had  evoked  his  image  by  the  mystical  incantation  of 


SAN  SALVADOR.  233 

faith.  It  spoke  at  her  right  side,  each  word  let  fall 
like  a  pearl,  so  that  she  turned  her  head  to  listen. 

Were  they  words  of  compassion,  or  counsel? 
Did  they  propose  a  plan,  or  commend  her  obedi- 
ence? 

No.  They  only  repeated  the  Divine  invitation : 
Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  lahor^  and  are  heavy 
laden^  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 

But  as  they  fell  softly  on  her  ear,  the  darkness 
that  had  enveloped  her  parted,  and  slipped  down 
like  a  tent,  and  a  flood  of  light  entered  and  illu- 
mined her  soul.  Her  hands  were  still  outstretched ; 
but  they  were  clasped  in  ecstasy:  her  tears  still 
flowed;  but  they  were  tears  of  rapture. 

"Oh,  why  did  I  not  think  of  it!  "  she  exclaimed; 
and  in  that  first  inflowing  of  heaven  did  not  re- 
member that  she  had  thought,  and  had  come,  and 
that  the  words  were  but  a  reminder  that  she  had 
done  her  part,  and  there  remained  only  that  he 
should  fulfill  his  promise. 

She  was  in  heaven ! 

There  was  no  thought  of  explanation,  no  study 
of  phenomena.  She  knew  at  last  what  sort  of 
miracle  Christ  came  on  earth  to  perform,  and  what 
his  kingdom  is. 

How  was  her  life  to  proceed?  It  mattered  not. 
WhatcA^er  might  happen,  all  was  well,  was  more 
than  well,  was  best !  Should  she  go,  or  stay  in  San 
Salvador?     No  matter.      She  was  blest  either  way. 

"And  this  heaven,"  she  thought,  "lies  just  out- 
side the  door  of  every  human  heart ! 


234  SAN  SALVADOR. 

''  Behold .,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knocJc.^^ 

How  simple  is  a  spiritual  miracle,  after  all !  It 
is  but  the  substitution  of  harmony  for  discord,  the 
finding  the  keynote  of  the  universe. 

Not  the  least  marvelous  part  of  her  change  was 
that  she  recognized  this  state  as  her  true  one  ;  as 
one  who  has  long  been  cramped  and  bowed  down 
breathes  deep  with  relief,  the  pressure  removed, 
and  knows  that  he  was  made  to  stand  upright. 

No  earthly  storm  clears  so.  Even  when  the  sun 
bursts  forth,  he  shows  a  rack  of  flying  mists.  But 
lona  no  longer  thought  of  a  shadow,  even  as  past. 
Trouble  had  no  longer  any  existence,  even  as  fugi- 
tive.    In  the  ticinkling  of  an  e?/e,  says  Saint  Paul. 

It  was  early  dawn  when  she  issued  from  the  Ba- 
silica. Some  one  was  pacing  one  of  the  paths  in 
the  green  above,  but  came  running  down  as  soon 
as  she  appeared. 

"Why,  Ion  !  What  brings  you  here?"  his  sis- 
ter exclaimed. 

"I  could  not  sleep,"  the  boy  said,  trembling. 
"Oh,  lona,  what  is  the  matter  with  you?  What 
has  happened?     Let  us  both  go  away  from  here!  " 

She  put  her  arms  around  him.  "Dear  Ion,"  she 
said,  "the  brightest,  the  sweetest,  the  most  glorious 
thing  has  happened !  Some  time  I  will  tell  you, 
but  not  now.  Your  hair  is  wet  with  dew,  and 
your  cheeks  with  tears,  my  dearest.  Do  not  fear. 
All  is  well !     All  is  well !     Do  not  I  look  happy?  " 

"Your  face  shines  !"  said  Ion,  his  own  growing 
brighter.      "I  was  afraid." 


SAN  SALVADOR.  235 

"You  are  to  fear  no  longer.  You  must  go  to 
rest,  and  then  wake  happy.  But  first  let  us  kiss 
the  panels  of  the  portal ;  for  they  have  been  to  me 
the  gate  of  heaven." 

They  went,  hand  in  hand,  knelt  on  the  upper 
step,  and  kissed  the  panels  of  the  door,  then  walked 
in  silence  across  the  town.  In  the  dawn,  the  face 
of  lona  could  be  seen  radiant  with  a  light  that  was 
not  of  the  sky.  It  was  the  outshining  of  an  illu- 
minated soul. 

"Brother,"  she  said,  pausing  at  the  door  of  the 
Arcade,  "what  the  King  said  is  not  a  figure  of 
speech,  but  literal  truth.  When  he  commands,  or 
invites,  do  not  stop  to  question.  To  him  there  are 
no  impossibilities.  Do  not  forget  him,  nor  disobey 
when  life  is  bright ;  but  he  is  a  star,  best  seen  in 
the  dark.  If  you  should  ever  be  in  great  anguish, 
set  your  soul  searching  for  Christ,  and  do  not  leave 
off  till  you  find  him.  He  is  near  !  He  is  always 
within  call!  " 

She  went  upstairs,  planning.  First  sleep.  Then 
this  duty,  then  that,  quite  as  usual.  And  every 
duty,  even  those  heretofore  most  nearly  irksome, 
had  a  new  face,  smiling  and  peaceful.  Every  little 
weed  and  brier  of  life  put  forth  its  blossom. 

Eeaching  Tacita's  door,  she  stopped;  and  hear-, 
ing  a  movement  within,  she  wdiispered :  — 

"  Tacita  Mora !     O  Tacita !  " 

Tacita  was  awake.  Her  heart  had  been  sorely 
troubled,  by  lona's  talk  the  week  before;  and  her 
sudden    absence   had    increased    the    pain.     She 


236  SAN  SALVADOB. 

opened  the  door,  wondering  at  that  whisper,  and 
shrank  on  seeing  who  was  there.  "  What  do  you 
wisli  for?  "  she  asked,  fearing  some  new  and  more 
violent  scene.  ' 

"To  restore  you  the  peace  I  have  disturbed," 
said  lona.  "To  ask  your  forgiveness.  All  the 
wild  things  I  said  that  day  were  a  dark  delusive 
cloud  which  has  been  driven  away  by  sun  and 
wind.  I  was  wrong,  and  you  right.  It  is  the 
Holy  Saviour  himself  who  will  save  the  refuge 
they  have  named  for  him.  I  hope,  dear,  that  you 
and  Dylar  will  marry,  and  be  happy;  but  it  would 
be  presuming  in  me  to  ask  of  your  intentions. 
Peace!" 

She  went  swiftly  away  before  Tacita,  astonished, 
could  answer  a  word. 

To  be  in  heaven  while  yet  upon  earth,  what  is 
it  ?  It  is  to  have  a  sense  of  security  which  extends 
to  the  bounds  of  conception,  —  and  beyond,  a  sense 
which  no  peril  can  disturb.  It  is  to  be  steeped  in 
a  silent  contentment  which  no  words  can  express. 
It  is  to  call  the  bird  your  sister,  and  the  sun  your 
brother.  It  is  to  study  how  you  may  serve  those 
whom  you  have  hated.  It  is  to  say  farewell  to 
those  who  are  dearest  to  you,  and  know  that  they 
are  not  lost.  It  is  to  see  the  sorrows  of  earth  as 
motes  in  a  sunbeam,  yet  be  full  of  compassion  for 
the  suffering.  It  is  to  know  for  what  purpose  you 
were  created. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Early  in  the  autumn  lona  was  to  go  out  into 
tlie  world,  having  instructed  Tacita  thoroughly  and 
lovingly  in  all  her  work,  and  seen  with  what  a  mod- 
est dignity  the  girl  she  had  thought  almost  childish 
could  preside  in  her  place. 

She  was  in  haste  to  go,  but  solely  from  a  convic- 
tion that  she  was  needed  elsewhere. 

"'Wherever  I  am  not  absolutely  needed,  I  am 
lost,"  she  said.  "My  life  here  is,  and  has  been 
for  a  long  time,  that  of  a  Sybarite.  I  am  terrified 
when  I  think  of  a  longer  waste." 

"Stay  till  after  the  vintage,"  they  all  urged  her. 

"I  will  stay  on  one  condition,"  she  said  to  Dylar. 
"And  that  is  that  I  may  plan,  and  help  to  prepare 
a  house  for  you  and  your  bride.  Once  outside,  I 
may  not  be  able  to  come  back  and  see  you  married ; 
and  it  would  be  cruel  if  I  could  have  no  part." 

"But,  lona,  Tacita  has  not  promised  to  marry 
me,"  Djdar  said,  smiling.  "However,  do  as  you 
please.     May  I  ask  what  your  plan  is?  " 

She  pointed  to  the  college.  As  we  have  said, 
the  building  was  large  and  irregular,  crowning  a 
mass  of  rock  that  broke  roughly  toward  the  town, 
and  fell  sheer  on  the  mountain  side,  the  narrow 
space  spanned  by  a  bridge  from  the  college  gate  to 


238  SAN  SALVADOR. 

the  Ring.  A  small  part  of  the  structure  toward 
the  town  was  detached,  a  point  of  rock  rising 
sharply  between  it  and  the  main  building.  The 
only  mode  of  communication  between  the  two  was 
by  means  of  a  stair  at  either  side  to  a  mirador  built 
on  the  top  of  this  point  of  rock,  and  a  narrow  gal- 
lery hung  over  the  steepest  fall  of  the  rock.  This 
semi-detached  portion,  containing  but  four  rooms, 
was  Dylar's  private  apartment. 

"With  two  large  rooms  in  addition,"  lona  said, 
"that  would  make  you  a  charming  apartment. 
There  is  yet  space  enough  on  the  rock  if  we  fill  up 
that  narrow  interstice  with  masonry  solid  from  the 
plain.  The  two  rooms  will  be  large,  one  a  few 
steps  higher  than  the  other.  They  will  be  very 
stately,  with  the  steps  and  curtain  quite  across  one 
end.  Where  the  stone  breaks  to  right  and  left,  a 
stair  can  start,  double  at  the  top,  and  meeting  over 
an  arch  midway,  to  separate  again  below.  There 
will  be  space  also  for  a  small  terrace  outside  the 
door.  It  can  be  made  something  ideal.  You  use 
but  two  of  the  four  rooms  now.  The  little  museum 
in  the  other  two  can  be  removed  to  the  colleo-e. 
There  is  plenty  of  room.  This  work  should  be 
begun  at  once,  masonry  takes  so  long  to  dry  well. 
But  as  your  living-rooms  would  be  the  old  ones, 
you  need  not  put  off  your  marriage  till  it  is  quite 
dry.     There  is  no  time  to  be  lost." 

"No  one  plans  like  you,"  Dylar  said.  "It  will 
be  charming.  Do  as  you  please.  I  will  see  if  I 
can  find  a  bride  for  your  pretty  house." 


SAN  SALVADOR.  239 

He  took  his  way  to  the  library,  where  he  had 
seen  Tacita  enter.  She  was  there  alone,  lighting 
up  a  shadowed  corner  with  her  fair  face  and  golden 
hair. 

It  was  a  very  studious  face  at  that  moment. 
Her  arms  stretched  out  at  either  side  of  a  large 
volume,  she  read  attentively.  Other  books  were 
piled  at  right  and  left.  Now  and  then  she  put 
her  hand  to  her  forehead,  then  made  a  note  on  a 
long  strip  of  paper,  writing  with  a  serious  careful- 
ness. 

She  was  preparing  a  lecture  on  history  for  the 
youngest  class  of  girls  in  that  study. 

"It  must  be  to  the  great  complex  subject  what  a 
globe  with  the  great  circles  only  is  to  the  whole 
geography  of  the  earth.  It  must  be  as  though,  on 
that  globe  with  its  few  lines,  you  should  draw  at 
one  point  a  little  black  circumflex,  and  say:  'Here 
is  found  the  asp  of  the  Nile.  The  monarchs  wore 
it  in  jewels  on  their  diadem.  One  laid  it  alive  on 
her  breast,  and  died.  And  here,  where  this  black 
line  goes  past,  and  never  stops,  but  always  returns, 
the  Wise  Men  of  the  East  found  the  Infant  Christ. 
And  here  grow  roses,  oh,  such  roses  !  in  fuU  fields, 
to  make  the  precious  attar  of.  And  here  grows  the 
pink  coral,  like  that  coral  rose  lona  wears.  No ; 
the  lesson  must  not  be  dry,  nor  yet  too  rich.  It 
must  make  them  wish  for  more.  Only  a  few 
sparse  sweetnesses.  O  land  of  France,  what  no- 
blest, fairest  deed  for  children  to  hear  was  ever 
done  on  your  soil  since  you  were  France?  " 


240  SAN  SALVADOR, 

So  the  young  student  was  thinking,  deep  buried 
in  her  study,  when  she  heard  a  voice  say :  — 

"O  Minerva,  may  I  come  in?  Is  there  a  gorgon 
on  your  shield  of  folios?" 

She  looked  up  with  a  glad  welcome.  "Not  for 
you.  You  are  come  in  good  time,  perhaj^s,  to 
check  my  wild  ambition.  Do  you  know,  prince, 
that  1  aspire  to  become  an  historian?  " 

"Then  I  come  indeed  in  good  time,"  he  said. 
"For  it  is  a  history  which  I  wish  you  to  write." 

She  looked  inquiringly;  but  he  did  not  meet  her 
glance. 

"Will  you  come  out  to  the  terrace?"  he  said, 
indicating  the  one  near  them  toward  the  college. 

And  as  they  went,  he  said  reproachfully:  "You 
hide  yourself  from  me.  I  find  you  always  sur- 
rounded. You  seem  to  like  me  less  and  less  every 
day." 

Tacita's  lips  parted.  "Shall  I  tell  him  that  I 
like  him  more  and  more?"  she  thought.  "No. 
Yet  he  must  be  satisfied." 

"I  do  not  know  what  reply  to  make,"  she  said, 
somewhat  breathlessly. 

"Do  you  know  what  to  think?"  he  asked. 

"Oh,  yes!" 

"Would  it  pain  me  to  know?" 

"Oh,  no!" 

He  smiled,  even  laughed  a  little;  she  had  said, 
in  fact,  so  much  more  than  she  was  aware. 

"Look  at  the  college,"  he  said.  "lona  has  a 
plan  of  a  house  there  for  me."     He  explained  it. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  241 

"She  will  remain  till  vintage  time  to  see  it  well 
started.  Will  you  go  there  and  live  with  me,  Ta- 
cita,  when  it  is  done?" 

"Yes!  "  she  said  quietly,  her  eyes  on  the  college. 

"Will  you  go  next  Easter?"  he  asked,  after  a 
pause. 

"Yes!  "  she  said  again. 

"God's  blessing  on  you!"  he  exclaimed  fer- 
vently. 

They  stood  a  moment  longer  in  silence. 

Then:  "Shall  I  go  back  to  my  writing?"  asked 
Tacita,  looking  at  Dylar  with  an  ex}3ression  of 
entire  contentment  and  confidence.  And  when  he 
answered  her  smile,  and  bowed  assent,  she  left  him 
there,  to  build  up  his  house  with  one  swift  flash  of 
fancy,  to  bring  his  bride  home  rose-veiled,  to  draw 
from  her  reluctant  lips  all  that  they  now  refused  to 
tell,  to  tear  himself  away  presently  with  only  a  few 
gentle  words,  and  not  even  a  pressure  of  the  hand. 

"You  have  made  me  very  happy,  my  Tacita!" 
he  said.      "I  leave  you  now  only  because  I  must!  " 

In  San  Salvador  engagements  were  very  brief, 
as  they  could  well  be  between  persons  who  had 
known  each  other  from  childhood;  and  whatever 
friendly  intimacy  there  might  have  been  between 
them  before,  it  ceased  in  a  great  measure  during 
that  time.  It  might  be  said  that  courtship  was 
almost  unknown;  and  between  the  betrothal  and 
marriage  the  couple  did  not  meet  alone.  Tacita 's 
promise,  therefore,  remained  a  secret  between  her- 
self and  Dylar. 


242  SAN  SALVABOB. 

And  so  the  summer  passed   with  no  apparent 
change  in  their  rehitions. 

Autumn  was  always  a  stirring  time  in  San  Sal- 
vador. The  whole  town  was  given  up  to  the  labors 
and  pleasures  of  harvesting.  Every  one  had  some 
task.  Even  the  children  were  made  useful.  The 
vintage,  as  in  all  grape-growing  countries  in  times 
of  peace,  was  a  season  of  gayety,  and  all  its  pictur- 
esque work,  except  the  grape-gathering,  was  done  in 
that  part  of  the  outside  road,  or  cornice,  between 
the  Arcade  and  the  kitchens.  A  crowd  of  children 
were  seated  here  in  groups  on  straw  mats,  with 
awnings  over  them.  Boys  and  men  brought  huge 
baskets  of  grapes  supported  on  poles  over  their 
shoulders.  In  the  centre  of  each  group  of  six  or 
seven  was  a  large  wooden  tray  heaped  high  with 
the  fruit  which  they  picked  from  the  stems  into 
basins  in  their  laps.  Women,  girls  and  boys  went 
about  and  gathered  from  these  full  basins  into  23ails 
for  the  wdne  presses.  Dressed  in  the  stained  cot- 
ton tunics  of  former  vintages,  their  hands  dyed 
a  deep  rose-color,  the  children  chattered  like  mag- 
pies. Even  little  lisping  things,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  their  elders,  were  allowed  to  take  a  part  in 
the  business,  or  fancy  that  they  did.  Some  of  the 
boys  had  taken  a  little  two-years-old  cupid  and 
rubbed  grape-skins  on  his  hands,  face,  legs  and 
feet,  till  they  were  of  a  bright  Tyrian  purple, 
and  set  a  wreath  of  vine  tendrils  on  his  sunny  hair ; 
and  he  went  about  from  group  to  group  vaguely 
smiling,  not  in  the  least  understanding  the  mirth 
which  his  appearance  excited. 


SAN  SALVADOR,  243 

The  boys  capered  about  like  goats  when  free  from 
their  burdens.  One  of  them  ran  to  the  Arcade, 
turning  summersaults,  walking  on  his  hands,  run- 
ning backward,  went  up  the  stairs,  like  a  cat,  and 
appeared  in  the  veranda,  cap  in  hand. 

Tacit  a  was  seated  there  by  a  little  table,  making 
notes  of  the  harvest  as  reports  were  brought  her. 
The  boy  delivered  his  message  like  a  gentleman, 
bowed  himself  out,  and  became  a  monkey  again. 

Not  far  from  the  noisy  grape -pickers,  under  an- 
other awning,  were  women  sorting  nuts  and  olives. 
They  suspended  their  work  as  lona  came  down  the 
street  and  paused  to  speak  to  them.  All  looked  up 
into  her  face  with  an  earnest  and  reverential  gaze. 
They  had  not  ceased  to  wonder  at  the  change  in 
her,  nor  had  they  learned  to  define  it ;  for  while, 
in  her  gentleness  and  simplicity  of  manner  she  was 
more  like  one  of  them,  they  were  yet  conscious  of 
a  superiority  which  they  had  never  before  recog- 
nized in  her.  It  was  as  though  a  frost-lily  should  in 
a  single  night  be  changed  to  a  true  lily,  fragrant 
and  still. 

She  spoke  a  few  words  to  them,  and  then  went 
up  to  the  veranda  to  Tacita. 

"Stay  with  me  a  little  while  I"  said  Tacita 
eagerly,  bringing  her  a  chair.  "I  think  of  you  all 
the  time,  and  cannot  keep  the  tears  out  of  my  eyes." 

lona  embraced  her.  "The  same  hand  leads  us 
both,  dear.  Do  not  grieve.  For  me,  I  am  in 
haste  to  go.  You  have  yourself  made  me  more 
eager  with  your  munificent  gift." 


244  SAN  SALVADOB. 

For  Tacita,  with  Dylar's  approval,  had  given  all 
her  little  fortune  to  lona  to  be  disposed  of  "not  in 
doing  charity,"  she  said,  "but  in  doing  justice." 

And  lona  had  replied:  "Yes,  justice!  For 
though  charity  may  move  us  to  act,  that  which  we 
do  of  good  is  but  a  just  restitution." 

"My  heart  is  in  anguish  for  the  world's  poor," 
she  said  now.  "And  not  for  the  beggar  alone.  I 
think  of  those  who  can  indeed  escape  physical  star- 
vation by  constant  labor,  but  whose  ^souls  starve  in 
that  weary  round  that  leaves  them  no  leisure  to 
look  about  the  fair  world  in  which  they  exist  like 
ants  half  buried  in  sand.  I  think  of  homeless  men 
and  women,  oh  I  and  children,  eating  the  bread  of 
bitterness  at  the  tables  of  the  coarse  and  insolent ; 
of  artistic  souls  cramped  by  some  need  that  any 
one  of  a  thousand  persons  known  to  them  could 
supply,  could  understand  without  being  told,  if  they 
had  a  spark  of  true  human  sympathy  in  their 
hearts,  but  which  they  behold  with  the  insensibil- 
ity of  stones.  Your  fortune,  my  Tacita,  will  be  a 
heaven's  dew  to  such.  For  your  largess  will  be 
given  only  to  the  silent,  who  ask  not.  I  do  not 
know  the  world  as  well  as  many  of  our  people  do ; 
but  those  who  have  had  most  experience  say  that 
the  almost  universal  motto  acted  on,  if  not  con- 
fessed, is  the  saying  of  Cain:  'Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper?  '  Now,  I  wish  to  have  as  my  motto  that  I 
am  my  brother's  keeper  whenever  and  wherever 
one  has  need  of  me.  I  will  have  nothing  to  do 
with  agents  nor  organizations.     I  will  see  the  suf- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  245 

fering  face  to  face.  Wherever  I  see  the  eyes  of 
the  Crucified  looking  at  me  through  a  human  face, 
there  will  I  offer  help.  The  King  shall  send  me  to 
meet  them." 

"There  are  those,"  said  Tacita,  "who  will  affect 
anguish  in  order  to  move  you.  They  rob  the  real 
sufferer,  and  they  create  distrust  and  hardness  in 
the  charitable."  - 

"I  shall  sometimes  be  deceived,"  lona  said. 
"Who  is  not?  Sovereigns  are  deceived  by  their 
courtiers,  husbands  by  their  wives  and  wives  by 
their  husbands,  and  friends  deceive  each  other,  and 
children  deceive  their  parents.  I  go  with  no  ro- 
mantic trustfulness,  I  assure  you." 

The  hour  for  her  departure  hastened  to  come. 

On  the  last  evening  she  went  to  the  assembly, 
passed  through  all  the  rooms,  saying  a  few  words, 
but  none  of  farewell.  Then  she  went  to  the  Basil- 
ica. 

The  rapture  of  her  vigil  had  subsided ;  but  the 
seal  of  it  remained  stamped  on  her  soul,  never  again 
to  be  overwhelmed  in  darkness.  Doubt  and  fear 
were  gone  forever,  and  she  went  on  cheerful  and 
assured,  if  not  always  sensibly  joyous. 

It  had  seemed  to  her  that  on  this  last  visit  she 
should  have  a  good  deal  to  say ;  but  no  words  came. 
What  she  was  doing  and  to  do  spoke  for  her.  She 
walked  about,  loaking  at  the  temple  from  different 
points,  to  impress  its  features  on  her  memory,  and 
sat  an  hour  before  the  throne  in  quiet  contempla- 
tion. 


246  SAN  SALVADOR. 

What  lier  leave-taking  was  of  that  sacred  place, 
we  say  not. 

Early  the  next  morning  she  was  seen  walking 
along  the  mountain -path  with  Ion  at  her  side.  At 
the  last  visible  point  of  the  path  she  turned, 
stretched  her  arms  out  toward  the  town,  then  went 
her  way. 

Ion  came  back  an  hour  later,  his  eyes  swollen 
with  weeping.  "  I  shall  see  her  in  the  spring,  in 
the  spring,  in  the  spring,"  he  kept  repeating,  to 
comfort  himself.  And  when  Tacita  came  to  meet 
him  with  both  her  hands  held  out,  "  O  Lady  Ta- 
cita, I  shall  go  out  to  her  in  the  spring,  in  the 
spring  !  "  he  said. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

The  short  southern  winter  drew  to  a  close. 
Everything  that  could  fade  had  faded.  The  vines 
stretched  a  network  of  dry  twigs,  the  olive  trees 
were  ashen,  the  pines  were  black.  The  gray  of 
craofs  and  houses  looked  bleak  under  the  white  daz- 
zle  of  the  mountain -wreath,  and  the  dazzling  blue 
of  the  sky.  Sometimes  both  were  swathed  in 
heavy  clouds,  and  the  town  was  almost  set  afloat 
in  floods  of  rain. 

It  was  the  time  for  in-door  work,  and  closer  do- 
mestic life. 

The  last  days  of  this  season  were  given  up  to 
penitential  exercises  similar  in  intention  to  the 
Holy  Week  of  the  Catholic  church,  though  differ- 
ent in  form,  —  having,  in  fact,  only  form  enough, 
and  that  of  the  simplest,  to  suggest  the  spirit. 
Like  all  the  instruction  given  in  San  Salvador,  its 
object  was  less  to  act  upon  the  passive  soul  than  to 
set  the  soul  itself  in  action. 

The  admonition  to  these  devotions  was  brief :  "  At 
this  time,  while  Nature  sits  in  desolation,  mourn- 
ing over  her  decay  and  trembling  before  the  w^inter 
winds,  let  us  i.ivite  those  veiled  angels  of  the  Lord, 
sorrow  and  fear,  to  enter  our  hearts  and  dwell  awhile 
with  us.     Let  us  read  and  ponder  in  silence  the  life 


248  SAX  SALVADOJR. 

and  death  of  the  Divine  Martyr.  Let  us  remem- 
ber that  while  we  have  rejoiced  in  peace,  plenty, 
honor  and  justice,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  our  kind  in  the  outer  world  have  suffered  starva- 
tion of  body  and  mind,  have  been  hunted  like  wild 
beasts,  and  branded  on  the  forehead  by  demons 
diso;uised  as  men ;  and  let  us  remember  that  that 
same  Divine  Martyr,  our  King  and  our  Lord,  said 
of  these  same  children  of  sorrow  and  despair :  In- 
asmuch as  ye  have  done  it  unto  them  —  whether 
good  or  evil  —  ye  have  done  it  unto  ??ze." 

The  exercises  began  on  Saturday  night,  and  con- 
tinued eight  days,  ending  on  the  second  Monday 
morning.  There  was  a  visit  at  night  to  the  ceme- 
tery by  all  but  the  children,  the  sick,  and  the  very 
aged.  On  Saturday  the  children  w^ould  visit  the 
Basilica  to  commemorate  the  blessing  of  the  chil- 
dren by  Christ,  and,  strewing  the  place  with  freshly 
budded  myrtle  twigs,  would  ask  his  blessing  before 
the  Throne.  Mothers  would  take  their  infants 
there  and  hold  them  up,  but  would  not  speak.  "For 
their  angels  shall  speak  for  them,"  they  said. 

Sunday  was  kept  as  Easter,  and  was  a  day  of 
roses;  and  on  Monday  morning  the  whole  town, 
all  dressed  in  white,  would  go  to  the  Basilica  in 
procession,  tossing  their  Easter  lilies  into  the  tri- 
bune as  they  passed,  till  the  sweet  drift  would 
heap  and  cover  the  steps  and  upper  balustrades, 
leaving  only  the  Throne,  gold-shining  above  a  pyra- 
mid of  perfumed  snow. 

For  up  through  the  dark  soil  and  out  of  the  pre- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  249 

vailing  grayness,  already  a  wealth  of  unseen  buds 
were  pushing  their  way  out  to  the  broadening  sun- 
shine, to  burst  into  bloom  before  the  week  should 
be  over.  The  gardens  had  their  sheltered  rose- 
trees  and  lily -beds,  and  every  house  its  cherished 
plants,  watched  anxiously,  and  coaxed  forward,  or 
retarded,  as  the  time  required. 

The  first  Sunday  was  called  the  Day  of  Silence ; 
for  no  one  issued  from  his  house  after  having  en- 
tered it  on  returning  from  the  cemetery,  and  each 
head  of  a  family  became  its  priest  on  that  day,  read- 
ing and  expounding  to  his  household  the  story  of 
the  passion  of  Christ,  the  Divine  Martyr. 

On  Monday  morning,  after  the  procession  of  lilies, 
Dylar  and  Tacita  would  be  publicly  betrothed ;  and 
a  week  later  their  marriage  would  take  place. 

"I  do  not  know,  Tacita,"  he  said  to  her,  "if  our 
form  of  marriage  will  satisfy  you.  It  has  nothing 
of  that  ceremonial  which  you  are  accustomed  to 
see,  though  we  hold  marriage  to  be  a  sacrament." 

It  was  Saturday  morning  of  their  Holy  Week, 
and  the  two  were  walking  apart  under  the  northern 
mountains.  They  had  already  assumed  the  mourn- 
ing dress  of  gray  and  black  worn  by  all  during 
that  week,  and  the  long  gray  wool  cloaks  with  fur 
collars  worn  in  the  winter  were  not  yet  discarded. 
But  their  faces  were  bright,  Tacita' s  having  a  red 
rose  in  each  cheek. 

"  Elena  has  told  me  something,"  she  said.  "  And 
how  could  I  be  otherwise  than  satisfied?  For  so 
my  father  and  mother  were  married,  and  so  —  you 
will  be!" 


250  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"Our  jjosition  in  regard  to  a  priesthood,  if  ever 
to  be  regretted,  is  still  unavoidable.  Our  founda- 
tion was  a  beginning  the  world  anew,  all  dej^ending 
on  one  man,  with  the  help  of  God.  No  authority- 
whatever  was  to  enter  from  outside;  but  all  was  to 
conform  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  word  of  Christ ; 
and  as  if  to  atone  for  any  omission,  he  was  elected 
King.  Our  people  were  of  every  clime  and  every 
belief  ;  yet  they  were  all  won,  by  love,  —  not  by 
force,  nor  argument,  nor  fear,  —  to  accept  Christ, 
and  to  live  more  in  accordance  with  his  commands 
than  any  other  community  in  the  world  is  known  to 
do.  When  any  of  them  go  out  into  the  world  they 
choose  the  form  of  Christian  worship  which  suits 
them  best;  and  some,  returning,  have  wished  to 
see  a  priesthood  introduced  here.  But  that  ques- 
tion brought  in  the  first  note  of  discord  heard  in 
our  councils  since  the  foundation.  Some  wanted 
one  form,  and  some  another.  The  subject  then 
was  forbidden,  and  we  returned  to  the  plan  of  our 
founder:  to  live  apart,  a  separate  and  voiceless 
nation,  waiting  till  God  shall  see  fit  to  break  down 
our  boundaries.  On  Easter  Sunday  we  lay  our 
bread  and  wine  on  the  footstool,  opening  the  gates, 
and  with  prayer  and  song  ask  him  to  bless  it,  our 
invisible  High  Priest.  Then  each  one,  preparing 
himself  as  his  conscience  shall  dictate,  goes  humbly 
up  the  steps  his  foot  can  touch  at  no  other  time, 
and  takes  of  the  sacramental  bread,  touches  it  to 
the  wine  set  in  a  wide  golden  vase  beside  it,  and 
comes  down  and  eats  it,  kneeling.     The  little  square 


SAN  SALVADOR.  251 

of  snowy  bread  looks  as  if  a  drop  of  blood  had  fallen 
on  it  where  it  met  the  wine.  I  think  that  many 
a  heart  is  full  of  holy  peace  that  day." 

"Well  they  might  be,"  said  Tacita.  "But  of 
the  marriage,  tell  me.  What  have  we  to  do?  I 
am  half  afraid." 

"First,  then,"  said  Dylar,  "On  Saturday  you 
lead  the  girls  to  the  Basilica  for  the  Blessing,  as 
lona  used  to  do,  Ion  leading  the  boys.  On  Sunday 
you  do  only  as  the  others.  On  Monday  morning  a 
company  of  matrons  go  for  you  and  take  you  to  the 
Basilica  for  the  lilies.  All  are  in  white  and  all 
wear  veils  of  white,  you  like  the  rest.  But  you 
alone  have  a  lily  on  your  breast.  All  come  out. 
You,  surrounded  still  by  your  guard  of  matrons, 
remain  in  the  court  just  outside  the  portal,  at  the 
right,  and  I,  with  the  Council,  at  the  left.  All  the 
others  are  below,  outside  the  green.  Professor 
Pearlstein,  as  president  of  the  council,  then  asks 
in  a  loud  voice  if  any  one  can  show  reason  why  I 
should  not  demand  your  hand  in  marriage.  He 
waits  a  moment,  then  says :  '  Speak  now,  or  forever 
after  hold  your  peace.'  No  sound  is  heard.  I 
forbid  the  wind  to  breathe,  the  birds  to  sing!  " 

"And  then?  "  said  Tacita,  smiling,  as  he  stopped 
and  flashed  the  words  out  fierily. 

His  eyes  softened  on  her  blushing  face,  and  they 
stood  opposite  each  other  under  the  lacelike 
branches  of  an  almond-tree  where  minute  points 
thick  upon  all  the  boughs  betrayed  the  imminent 
blossom -drift. 


252  SAN  SALVADOB. 

"And  then,"  said  Dylar,  "I  shall  come  forward 
into  the  path  where  the  lamps  of  the  sanctuary 
shine  out  through  the  portal,  and  I  shall  say:  'If 
Tacita  Mora  consents  willingly  to  promise  herself 
to  me  this  day  as  my  betrothed  wife,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God  and  of  these  my  people,  let  her  come 
forth  alone  and  lay  her  hand  in  mine." 

He  pronounced  the  words  with  seriousness  and 
emphasis.      His  tones  thrilled  her  heart. 

"And  then?  "  she  said,  almost  in  a  whisper. 

He  smiled  faintly,  but  with  an  infinite  tender- 
ness. "And  then,  my  Lady,  if  even  at  so  late  a 
moment  you  doubt,  or  fear,  you  need  not  answer." 

"How  could  I  doubt,  or  fear!"  she  exclaimed, 
and  turned  homeward. 

They  walked  almost  in  silence,  side  by  side,  till 
they  reached  the  Arcade,  where  they  were  to  sepa- 
rate till  they  should  meet  in  the  scene  which  he  had 
just  been  describing.  And  there  they  said  fare- 
well with  but  a  moment's  lingering. 

That  evening  all  retired  as  soon  as  sundown ;  but 
the}^  rose  again  at  midnight  and  assembled  in  the 
avenue  and  square,  from  whence,  in  companies  of 
a  hundred,  each  with  its  leader,  they  started  for 
the  cemetery. 

As  they  went,  they  recited  the  prayers  for  the 
dead  by  companies,  the  Amen  rolling  from  end  to 
end  of  the  line. 

Entering  the  ravine  was  like  entering  a  cavern. 
But  for  the  sparse  lamps  set  along  the  way  they 
could   not   have   kept    the   path.     They   went   in 


SAN  SALVADOR.  253 

silence  here,  only  the  sound  of  their  multitudinous 
steps  echoing,  till  a  faint  light  began  to  shine  into 
the  darkness  before  them  from  where,  just  out  of 
sight,  every  letter  had  been  outlined  with  fire  of 
that  legend  over  the  arch :  — 

I  AM  THE  KeSURRECTION  AND  THE  LiFE. 

Then  from  the  midst  of  the  long  procession  rose 
a  single  voice  reciting  the  psalm :  The  Lord  is  my 
/Shepherd. 

No  one,  having  once  heard  it,  could  mistake  the 
voice  of  Dylar  tor  any  other.  It  was  of  a  metal- 
lic purity,  and  gave  worth  to  every  word  it  uttered. 

Yea^  though  I  wcdh  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death.,  I  tDillfear  no  evil^  for  thou  art 
toith  me,  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me. 

As  they  listened  they  felt  not  the  stones  under 
their  feet.  Solemn  and  buoyant,  into  their  souls 
there  entered  something  of  that  spirit  which  has 
made  and  will  make  men  and  women  march  sing- 
ing to  martyrdom. 

They  passed  under  the  arch,  and  in  at  the  lower 
door  of  the  cemetery.  All  the  doors  from  top  to 
bottom  were  open,  and  the  lamps  shed  a  dim  radi- 
ance through  the  long,  hushed  corridors  of  the  dead ; 
but  their  flames  caught  a  tremor  as  the  breathing 
multitude  went  by,  two  by  two. 

They  ascended  inside,  by  ways  that  seemed  a 
labyrinth,  to  the  upper  tier  just  under  the  grassy 
hollow  of  Basil's  Rest.  Issuing  there,  they  de- 
scended by  the  outer  stairs,  filling  all  the  galleries 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountain.     The  waninc: 


254  SAN  SALVADOR, 

moon,  rising  over  the  eastern  mountains,  saw  a 
great  pyramid  of  pallid  faces  all  turned  her  way, 
a  dim  and  silent  throng  that  did  not  move,  —  as 
though  the  dead  had  come  forth  to  look  at  the  ris- 
ino*  of  some  portentous  star,  long  prophesied,  or  to 
watch  if  the  coming  dawn  should  bring  in  the  Day 
of  Judgment. 

Presently  a  murmur  was  heard.  All  were  recit- 
ing in  a  whisper  the  prayers  for  the  dead,  each 
striving  to  realize  that  they  would  one  day,  per- 
haps not  far  distant,  be  said  for  himself. 

This  multitudinous  whisper,  the  chill  of  the 
upper  air,  the  solemn  desolation  of  the  terrestrial 
scene  and  the  live  scintillating  sky  with  that  gleam- 
ing crescent  unnaturally  large  between  the  eastern 
mountain -tops,  all  made  Tacita's  hair  rise  upon  her 
head.  Into  what  morning-country  did  it  mount, 
like  mists  from  the  earth  at  sunrise,  this  cloud  of 
supplicating  sighs  from  out  their  earth-bound  souls  ? 
Were  these  shadowy  forms  about  her,  indistin- 
guishable from  the  rock  save  for  their  pallid  faces, 
were  they  living  men  and  women?  or  would  they 
not,  at  the  first  hint  of  dawn,  reenter,  mute  and 
slow,  those  cavernous  doors,  and  lie  down  again  in 
the  narrow  beds  which  they  had  quitted,  for  what 
dread  expiation !  —  for  what  hope  long  deferred  ! 

Not  much  of  earthly  vanity  can  cling  to  such  a 
vigil.  The  ordinary  human  life,  slipped  off  so  like 
a  garment,  would  be  assumed  again,  freed  for  a 
time,  at  least,  from  dust  and  stain. 

When,  at  length,  a  faint  aurora  showed  in  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  255 

east,  a  choir  of  men's  voices  sang  an  invocation  to 
the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  lUuminator. 

That  song  dispelled  all  fear,  and  life  grew  sweet 
again :  —  life  to  be  helpful,  joyful,  and  patient  in  ; 
life  in  which  to  search  out  the  harmony  and  worth 
of  life ;  —  life  to  grow  old  in  and  wait  after  work 
well  done;  —  life  to  feel  life  slip  away,  and  to 
catch  dim  glimpses  and  feel  blind  intuitions,  in  the 
midst  of  creeping  shadows,  of  a  sure  soul-rise  in 
some  other  sphere! 

As  they  went  down,  Tacita  heard  a  whisper  from 
Elena  close  to  her  cheek:  "'Dig  for  your  gold, 
my  children,  says  Earth,  your  Mother.  Deep  in 
your  hearts  it  lies  hidden.'  " 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

The  week  of  commemoration  passed  by.  On 
Saturday  the  children  went  in  procession  for  the 
King's  blessing,  the  Basilica  all  theirs  that  day. 
No  one  else  might  enter  save  Tacita  and  Ion  as 
leaders,  and  the  mothers  with  their  infants.  Go- 
ing, they  left  the  place  fragrant  with  their  strown 
myrtle -twigs. 

Easter  came  and  went  with  its  blush  of  roses 
everywhere,  its  rose  petals  mingled  with  the  chil- 
dren's myrtle  on  the  pavement,  roses  between  the 
lamps,  and  roses  in  the  girdles  of  the  people.  The 
bread  and  wine,  on  silver  trays  borne  by  Dylar  and 
the  elders,  was  set  at  the  foot  of  the  Throne,  and 
after  prayer,  and  music  sweet  as  any  heard  on 
earth,  the  people  made  their  communion  as  the  sun 
went  down,  having  fasted  all  day  since  sunrise. 

When  it  was  over.  Ion  walked  to  the  Arcade 
with  Tacita. 

"If  only  lona  were  here!  "  she  said.  "And  now 
we  are  to  lose  you  also.  Truly,  our  joy  is  not 
without  a  cloud." 

"What  joy  is  cloudless  longer  than  a  hour?" 
the  boy  exclaimed.  "For  me,  it  is  now  hard  to 
go.  Only  the  thought  that  my  sister  is  there  at- 
tracts me.     You  were  right.  Lady  I     At  the  point 


SAN  SALVADOR.  257 

of  leaving  San  Salvador,  each  little  stone  of  it  be- 
comes precious  to  me." 

"Do  not  forget  that  love,  dear  Ion!"  said  Ta- 
cita.  "And  remember,  too,  that  you  have  left  be- 
hind you  something  tenderer  than  stones." 

"Dylar  will  bring  you  to  England,"  he  said. 
"  I  imagine  myself  running  to  meet  you ;  and  that 
comforts  me.  I  cried  so  when  Tona  went.  I  was 
like  a  baby.  She  made  me  almost  laugh  describing 
our  next  meeting.  She  would  appear  to  me  in  a 
London  street.  She  would  be  dressed  in  those 
fashions  we  laugh  so  at.  I  must  not  speak  to  her. 
If  I  should  s])eak,  she  would  call  a  policeman.  I 
told  her  that  I  would  run  and  kiss  her  in  the  street 
if  I  had  to  go  to  j^rison  for  it.  How  glad  I  shall 
be!" 

He  wiped  his  eyes. 

The  next  morning  all  the  people,  all  in  white,  a 
white  wreath  round  the  city,  went  with  their  lilies 
to  the  King,  till  they  were  piled,  a  fragrant  drift, 
up  to  "the  very  gold,  and  the  lamps  shone  through 
them  like  stars  through  drifted  snow. 

All  came  as  Dylar  had  said,  and  Tacita  was 
betrothed  to  him  before  God  and  his  people,  the 
lights  shining  on  them  through  the  open  portals 
which  they  reentered  then,  but  only  with  a  few 
chosen  ones,  to  repeat  their  vows  before  the  Throne. 

The  people  waiting  outside  strowed  the  way  with 
flowers;  and  Dylar  led  his  betrothed  to  her  own 
door,  and  left  her  there.  There  was  music  in  the 
afternoon,  and  at  twilight  the  sun-dance  in  the 
Square. 


258  SAN  SALVADOR. 

At  last  the  bride-elect  was  alone  in  her  cham- 
ber, all  the  lights  of  the  town  extinguished.  The 
shadows  were  soothing  after  the  excitement  of  the 
day,  and  she  was  glad  to  be  alone.  She  had  re- 
fused to  take  a  candle,  and  had  even  blown  out 
the  little  watch-light.  Yet  sleep  was  impossible, 
though  she  felt  the  languor  of  fatigue.  A  tender 
melancholy  oppressed  her  heart.  Never  had  she 
so  loved  Dylar  as  at  that  moment.  To  be  able  to 
dream  over  his  looks  and  words  had  been  almost 
more  pleasant  than  to  be  with  him ;  for,  gentle  as 
he  was,  there  was  something  in  his  impressive  quiet 
and  almost  constant  seriousness  which  made  her 
sometimes  fear  lest  she  should  seem  to  trifle.  But 
now  she  longed  for  his  presence. 

"If  I  could  see  him  but  a  moment !  " 

She  watched  a  glow-worm  coming  up  her  bal- 
cony, its  clear  light  showing  the  color  and  grain 
of  the  stone,  itself  unseen. 

How  lovely  had  been  her  betrothal!  She  went 
over  it  again  in  fancy,  catching  her  breath  again  as 
when,  her  guard  of  matrons  parting  to  disclose  her, 
she  had  walked  out  before  the  whole  town  to  place 
her  hand  in  Dylar' s,  and  heard  the  simultaneous 
"Ah I"  of  the  whole  crowd  set  the  deep  silence 
rustling.  Why  had  he  not  come  one  step  to  meet 
her?  Her  eyes  were  downcast  after  the  flashing 
glance  that  met  her  own  when  he  had  called  her 
forth.  She  had  not  looked  once  in  his  face;  and 
it  had  seemed  to  her  that,  had  there  been  one  step 
more,  she  could  not  have  taken  it,  but  must  have 


SAN  SALVADOR.  259 

fallen  at  his  feet.  True,  his  hands,  both  tremu- 
lous, had  gathered  hers  most  tenderly;  but  why 
had  he  not  taken  at  least  one  step?  Could  it 
have  been  coldness  that  kept  him  fixed  to  that 
square  stone  he  stood  on?  It  was  a  smooth  gray 
stone  with  little  silvery  specks  in  it,  and  a  larger 
spot  at  one  corner.  Dylar's  right  foot  was  a  little 
advanced  to  that  spot,  a  neat  foot  in  a  black  shoe 
with  a  silver  buckle,  and  the  edge  of  his  long  white 
robe,  open  over  the  shorter  tunic,  just  touched  the 
instep.  She  had  not  raised  her  eyes  above  that 
white  hem  and  the  border  of  her  own  veil. 

"Oh,  why  is  he  not  here  for  one  moment!  " 

She  recollected  Italian  lovers.  There  were 
young  men  in  the  provinces  who,  late  on  the  night 
before  their  marriage,  went  to  scatter  flowers  from 
the  door  of  their  beloved  one  to  the  church  door; 
and  rude  people  even  who  went  abroad  at  early 
morning  would  step  carefully  not  to  disturb  a  blos- 
som dropped  there  for  her  feet  to  pass  over.  And 
then,  the  stolen  interviews,  the  whispered  words, 
the  sly  hand-pressure ! 

Ah !  Dylar  would  never  love  in  that  way.  Per- 
haps he  had  no  ardor  of  feeling  toward  her.  And 
yet  —  and  yet  — 

She  smiled,  remembering. 

There  was  the  sound  of  a  step  below,  and  some 
one  stopped  underneath  her  window.  Her  heart 
gave  a  bound,  half  joy  and  half  fright,  and  she  ran 
to  lean  over  the  railing.     No ;  it  was  not  Dylar. 

"I  am  the  college  porter,"  said  a  voice  below. 


260  SAN  SALVADOR. 

''  I  bring  you  a  note.  Drop  me  a  ball  of  cord,  and 
I  will  send  it  up." 

She  flew  to  find  the  cord,  dropped  it,  holding  an 
end,  and  in  a  minute  held  the  note  in  her  hand. 

"I  will  come  back  in  fifteen  minutes  to  see  if 
there  is  any  answer,"  the  man  said.  "The  prince, 
my  Lady's  betrothed,  told  me  to  wait." 

After  all,  it  was  better  so.  His  presence  would 
have  agitated  her.  Besides,  he  was  obeying  the 
rules  of  the  place. 

But  the  light  to  read  her  letter  by!  For  the 
first  time  in  her  life,  it  seemed,  she  had  no  light  at 
hand,  and  this  of  all  times  in  her  life  when  most  it 
was  needed.  Neither  was  there  a  match  in  her 
chamber,  nor  match  nor  candle  in  the  anteroom, 
nor  in  the  dining-room.  "  Fool  that  I  was  ! " 
she  cried  desperately,  and  ran  to  the  balcony 
again.  The  porter  would  be  sure  to  have  a  taper 
with  him. 

She  spoke;  but  there  was  no  reply.  The  man 
had  gone  away. 

There  was  no  reply  from  him;  but  was  this  a 
reply,  this  little  lambent  shining  at  her  hand? 
The  glow-worm  she  had  seen  was  on  the  rail.  As 
it  lightened,  a  spot  of  light  like  sunshine  lit  the 
stone. 

Tacita  in  breathless  haste  brought  a  large  sheet 
of  card-board  and  set  it  in  the  blessed  little  crea- 
ture's path;  and  when  she  had  enticed  it,  carried 
the  sheet  to  her  table,  cut  the  silken  thread  that 
bound    her    letter,    and    slipped    the    page    along 


SAN  SALVADOR.  261 

toward  the  spot  of  light  that,  ceasing  for  a  while, 
began  again. 

Turning  the  paper  cautiously,  her  heart  palpita- 
ting, her  lips  parted  with  quick  breaths,  she  read 
her  letter,  word  by  word,  till  the  whole  message 
was  deciphered. 

"I  cannot  sleep  nor  rest  for  thinking  of  you," 
he  wrote.  ""I  have  to  put  a  strong  force  on  myself 
not  to  go  and  speak  from  under  your  window.  I 
am  drawn  by  chains.  I  have  a  thousand  words  of 
love  to  say  to  you.  How  can  I  wait  a  week  to  say 
them!  I  have  been  whispering  them  across  the 
dark  to  you.  How  you  came  to  me  to-day,  my 
own  I  I  know  just  how  many  steps  you  took,  and 
I  shall  set  a  white  stone  in  j^lace  of  the  gray  one 
where  you  stopped.  Dylar." 

She  found  pencil  and  paper,  and  aided  by  the 
same  fitful  lamp  wrote  her  answer. 

"My  Love,  like  you  I  could  not  sleep  nor  rest. 
You  have  made  me  happy.  I  have  only  a  glow- 
worm to  read  and  write  by.  Sleep  now,  and  love 
your  Tacit  A." 

The  man  came,  and  she  gave  him  her  note ;  then, 
finding  her  love's  lamp -bearer,  she  set  it  carefully 
on  the  railing  of  the  balcony. 

"Dearer  than  Sirius,  or  the  moon,  good-night!  " 
she  said. 

The  marriage  differed  but  little  from  the  be- 
trothal. It  was  the  only  marriage  possible  in  San 
Salvador,  a  solemn  pledge  of  mutual  fidelity  made 
in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  people,     Dylar 


262  SAN  SALVADOR. 

came  to  the  Arcade  for  his  bride,  and  led  her  over 
the  flower-strown  path  to  the  Basilica,  which  they 
were  the  first  to  enter. 

It  was  a  white  day,  all  being  dressed  as  on  the 
Monday  before,  except  the  bride,  who  was  in  rose- 
color,  robe  and  veil,  and  the  bridegroom,  who  wore 
dark  blue. 

That  afternoon  they  set  out  for  the  castle,  going 
through  the  Pines. 

The  preparations  at  the  Olives  were  not  less  joy- 
ous. It  was  long  since  a  Dylar  had  brought  a 
bride  home  to  them;  and  they  looked  on  Tacita, 
with  her  white  and  golden  beauty,  as  an  angel. 

For  a  time  the  bride  and  bridegroom  lived  only 
for  each  other.  They  had  all  their  past  lives  to 
bring  in  and  consecrate  by  connecting  it  with  the 
new.  It  seemed  to  them  that  every  incident  in 
those  lives  had  been  especially  designed  to  bring 
them  together. 

Then,  after  a  fortnight,  they  returned  as  they 
had  come,  and  walked  over  flowers  to  their  new 
abode,  to  finish  which  lialf  San  Salvador  had  been 
like  a  beehive  while  they  were  gone. 

The  two  new  rooms  were  noble  and  picturesque, 
the  difficulties  of  approach  had  been  cleared  away, 
and  the  background  of  the  college-buildings  gave 
a  palatial  air  to  their  modest  home.  Whatever 
defects  of  newness  there  were  were  covered  art- 
fully, and  the  whole  was  made  a  bower  of  beauty. 

Then  began  their  quiet  home-life,  and  the  brief 
stir  of  change  subsided  to  the  calm  of  a  higher 
level. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  263 

The  week  after  their  return  Elena  was  to  go 
out.  A  dozen  little  children  had  been  sent  out  to 
different  houses,  and  she  would  gather  and  take 
them  to  their  new  homes.  A  day  or  two  later, 
twenty  young  men,  Ion  among  them,  would  go. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

It  was  the  day  before  that  fixed  for  the  depar- 
ture of  the  students,  and  all  the  town  was  gathered 
in  the  Square,  now  changed  to  an  amphitheatre, 
and  roofed  with  canvas.  Professor  Pearlstein  was 
to  give  the  young  men  a  last  charge,  repeating  ad- 
monitions which  they  had  already  heard,  indeed, 
but  which  in  these  circumstances  would  make  a 
deeper  impression. 

The  speaker  began  gently:  — 

"When  a  father  sends  his  child  on  a  long  jour- 
ney in  foreign  lands,  he  first  provides  for  his  sus- 
tenance, furnishes  him  with  suitable  clothing,  and 
tries  to  secure  friends  for  him  in  those  far-off  coun- 
tries. He  tells  him  all  that  he  knows,  or  can  learn 
concerning  them,  warns  him  against  such  dangers 
as  he  can  foresee. 

"Havins:  done  all  this,  his  anxious  love  is  still 
unsatisfied.  He  follows  to  the  threshold  of  that 
parting,  and  beyond,  trying  to  discover  some  new 
service  that  he  can  render,  looks  again  at  the  trav- 
eler's equipments,  repeats  once  more  his  admoni- 
tions, gives  lingeringly  his  last  blessing,  his  last 
caress ;  till,  no  longer  able  to  postpone  the  dreaded 
moment,  he  loosens  his  hold  upon  the  loved  one, 
strains  his  eyes  for  the  last  glance,  then  sits  down 
to  weep. 


.S.l.V  SALVADOR.  265 

"But  even  then,  when  the  first  irrepressible 
burst  of  grief  is  over,  he  forgets  himself  anew,  and 
sends  out  his  imagination  in  search  of  the  wan- 
derer —  in  what  vigils  I  with  what  fears,  what 
prayers  for  his  well-being! 

"While  the  child,  amused  and  distracted  by  the 
novelties  of  this  foreign  life,  forgets  sometimes  the 
parent  he  has  left,  those  sad  eyes  at  home  gaze 
down  the  empty  road  by  which  he  disappeared,  or 
weep  with  longing  to  see  him  once  more.  Would 
the  wanderer's  song  and  laugh  displease  him  if  he 
knew?  Oh,  no  !  He  would  rejoice  in  that  happi- 
ness. The  only  inconsolable  anguish  that  he  could 
feel  would  be  in  knowing  that  the  virtue  with 
which  he  had  labored  to  fortify  that  child's  soul 
was  cast  aside  and  forgotten. 

"But  I  did  not  mean  to  make  you  weep.  I  wish 
you  to  think,  resolve,  remember,  and  persevere. 

"Once  more  I  warn  you  of  the  dangers  of  that 
life  which  you  are  about  to  enter.  Let  not  your 
minds  be  swept  away  by  the  swift  currents  every- 
where rushing  they  know  not  whither,  all  human 
society  rising  in  great  waves  on  some  tidal  throe 
which  may  land  it  on  a  higher  plane,  or  may  cast 
it  into  the  abyss,  one  leader  with  a  blazing  torch 
striving  in  the  name  of  Liberty  to  shut  the  gate  of 
heaven,  and  the  other,  his  unconscious  accomplice, 
in  the  name  of  Order,  setting  wide  the  gates  of 
hell. 

"Trust  not  the  visionary  who  will  tell  you  that 
science  everywhere  diffused  will  bring  an  age  of 


286  SAN  SALVADOR. 

gold.  Trust  not  the  bigot  who  will  say  that  know- 
ledge is  for  the  few. 

"Trust  not  those  orators  who,  intoxicated  by  the 
sound  of  their  own  voices,  proclaim  that  from  the 
platform  where  they  stand  gesticulating  they  can 
see  the  promised  land.  Long  since  the  Afghan 
heard  just  such  a  voice,  and  made  his  proverb  on 
it :  '  The  frog,  mounted  on  a  clod,  said  he  had  seen 
Kashmir. ' 

"Wait,  and  examine.  Look  at  both  sides  of  a 
question,  before  you  form  an  opinion. 

"See  what  children  we  were*  but  yesterday. 
We  thought  that  we  knew  the  Earth.  Compla- 
cently we  told  its  age,  and  all  its  story.  We  told 
of  a  new  world  discovered  four  hundred  years  ago, 
of  its  primeval  forests  and  virgin  soil,  of  its  unwrit- 
ten pages  on  which  we  should  inscribe  the  opening 
chaj^ters  of  a  new  Genesis.  And,  lo  !  the  new 
world,  like  the  old,  is  but  a  palimpsest!  Under 
the  virgin  soil  is  found  a  sculptured  stone ;  through 
the  unlettered  seas  rise  the  volcanic  peaks  of  lost 
Atlantis.  The  insulted  spirit  of  the  past  lifts 
everywhere  a  warning  finger  from  the  dust.  It 
points  to  the  satanic  promise  :  l^e  shall  be  as 
gods.  It  points  us  to  the  tower  of  Babel.  It  un- 
derlines the  haughty  Jewish  boast  :  Against  the 
children  of  Israel  shall  not  a  dog  wag  his  tongue. 
Samples  every  one  of  arrogant  pride  followed  by 
catastrophe  sudden,  utter,  and  inevitable. 

"In  the  face  of  such  a  past,  can  we  make  sure 
of  our  stability?     We  cannot.      Beware  of  pride. 


SAN  SALVADOE.  267 

Unless  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they  laho7'  in  vain 
that  build  it.  Unless  the  Lord  keep  the  city,  he 
vmtcheth  in  vain  that  IceepetK  it. 

"Hold  yourselves  aloof  from  any  party  that  ex- 
cludes your  King.  Bind  ^^ourselves  by  no  oatlis, 
and  have  no  fellowship  with  him  who  has  taken  an 
oath. 

"If  a. man  sin,  and  hurt  no  other  knowingly,  be 
silent  and  save  your  own  souls.  If  he  sin  in 
wronging  another,  speak  for  his  victim,  or  bear 
the  guilt  of  an  accomplice.  Do  not  sophisticate. 
You  are  your  brother's  keeper,  or  his  Cain. 

"  Do  not  bid  a  sufferer  be  calm,  nor  talk  of  rea- 
son to  him  while  he  writhes  in  anguish.  The  man 
of  cold  blood  may  be  as  unreasonable  as  the  man  in 
a  passion.  There  is  a  reason  of  flame  as  well  as  a 
reason  of  snow. 

"Remember  that  freedom  means  freedom  from 
criticism  as  well  as  from  force. 

"Never  allow  yourselves  to  think  or  speak  of 
the  poor,  of  condemned  criminals,  or  social  outcasts 
as  the  dangerous  classes.  Your  nativity  forbids. 
Justice  and  mercy  forbid.  If  there  is  a  class 
which  can  truly  be  called  dangerous  to  heavenly 
order  and  all  that  is  noblest  in  life,  it  is  that  great 
stall  -  fed,  sluggish,  self  -  complacent  mass  which 
makes  a  god  of  its  own  ease  and  tranquillity,  shuts 
its  eyes  to  wrongs  that  it  will  not  right,  and  cares 
not  what  power  may  rule  as  long  as  its  own  house- 
hold is  protected.  It  praises  the  hero  of  a  thou- 
sand years  ago,  and  is  itself  a  skulking  coward. 


2G8  SAN  SALVADOR. 

It  calls  out  a  regiment  if  its  sleeve  is  but  brushed 
against,  and  steps  upon  a  human  neck  to  reach 
a  flower.  Seek  not  their  friendships,  nor  their 
praises,  and  follow  not  their  counsels.  Be  cour- 
teous, sincere,  and  inflexible.  Be  loyal,  and  fear 
not! 

'  Non  6  il  mondan  rumor  altro  clie  iin  fiato 
Di  veiito,  ehe  or  vien  quindi  ed  or  vien  quinei, 
E  muta  nome  perche  muta  lato.' 

"Do  right,  and  trust  in  God.  Remember  that 
Christianity  is  heroism.  We  are  not  given  the 
spirit  of  coicardice,  says  Saint  Paul.  An  Arabian 
proverb  goes  farther.  'There  is  no  religion  with- 
out courage,'  it  says. 

"This  life  of  ours  is  woven  as  the  weaver  makes 
his  tapestry.  He  stands  behind  the  frame,  seeing 
the  wrong  side  only  of  his  web,  and  having  but  a 
narrow  strip  of  the  pattern  before  him  at  a  time. 
And  with  every  strip  the  threads  that  it  requires 
are  given.  It  is  all  knots  and  ends  there  where  he 
works;  but  he  steadily  follows  the  pattern.  All 
the  roughnesses  that  come  toward  him  testify  to 
the  smoothness  of  the  picture  at  the  other  side. 

v'  So  we  see  but  a  few  steps  in  advance,  and  the 
rough  side  of  our  duty  is  ever  before  us.  But 
weave  on,  weave  faithfully  on  in  the  day  that  is 
given  you.  Be  sure  that  when,  your  labor  done, 
you  pass  to  the  other  side,  if  3  ou  have  been  con- 
stant, you  will  find  the  most  glowing  and  beautiful 
part  of  your  picture  to  be  just  that  part  where  the 
knots  were  thickest  when  you  were  weaving. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  269 

"I  wish  to  tell  you  a  little  incident  of  to-day 
that  clings  to  my  mind.  It  is  but  a  trifle;  but  you 
may  find  a  thought  in  it. 

"As  I  sat  aloft  at  dawn,  thinking  of  you  and  of 
what  I  would  say  to  you,  I  saw  an  ant  in  the  path 
at  my  feet  carrying  a  stick  much  longer  than  him- 
self. He  ran  lightly  till  he  came  to  two  small 
gravel  stones,  one  at  either  side  of  his  path.  The 
stick  struck  on  both  stones  and  stopped  him.  He 
dropped  it,  and  ran  from  side  to  side  trying  to  drag 
it  through. 

"For  a  while  I  watched  the  little  creature's  dis- 
tress; then  with  a  slender  twig  I  carefully  lifted 
the  stick  over  the  obstacles,  and  laid  it  down  on 
the  other  side. 

"The  ant  remained  for  a  moment  motionless,  as 
if  paralyzed  with  astonishment,  then  ran  away  as 
fast  as  he  could  run,  leaving  the  stick  where  I  had 
placed  it ;  and  I  saw  him  no  more. 

"  Can  you  not  understand  that  I  was  grieved  and 
disappointed  ?  The  labor,  the  loss,  and  the  fear  of 
that  little  insect  were  as  great  to  him  as  ours  are 
to  us.  I  was  so  sorry  for  him  that  if  I  had  had 
the  power  to  change  my  shape,  as  fairy  stories  tell, 
and  take  it  safely -back  again,  I  would  have  run 
after  him  as  one  of  his  own  sort,  yet  with  a  tale 
marvelous  to  him,  would  have  reassured  him  of  my 
good-will,  promised  him  a  thousand  timbers  for  his 
dwelling,  and  a  store  of  food  and  downy  lining  for 
his  nest,  when  I  should  have  resumed  my  proper 
form  and  power. 


270  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"  Oil !  would  the  ants  have  caught  and  crucified 
me  in  the  shape  I  took  from  love,  and  only  to 
serve  them! 

"  Children,  it  is  at  this  very  point  that  the  world 
will  fight  with  you  its  most  demoniac  battle. 

"There  have  been,  and  there  are,  men  and 
women  whose  lives  shine  like  those  pure  flames  in 
the  long,  dim  corridors  of  our  cemetery,  making  a 
circle  of  holy  light  about  them,  some  tranquil  and 
hidden,  some  in  constant  combat.  But  for  the 
majority  of  the  race,  all  the  primal  Christian  truths 
have  become  as  worn  pebbles  on  the  shores  of  time. 
It  is  not  long  since  there  was  yet  enough  of  pub- 
lic sanity  and  faith  to  compel  a  decent  reverence ; 
but  now  they  utter  their  blasphemies,  not  only 
with  toleration,  but  with  applause.  They  have  an 
infernal  foolishness  that  sounds  like  wisdom  to 
the  ignorant  unthinking  mind.  This  spirit  puts  on 
the  doctor's  cap  and  robe  and  reasons  with  you.  It 
twists  up  a  woman's  long  hair,  and  breathes  out 
brazen  profanities  and  shameless  mockeries. 

"Or  some  being,  haK  saint  and  half  siren,  will 
praise  the  beauties  of  our  faith  as  you  would  praise 
a  picture  or  a  song,  and  smooth  away  its  more  aus- 
tere commands,  so  covering  all  with  glozes  and  with 
garlands  that  there  would  seem  to  be  no  other  duty 
but  to  praise  and  poetize ;  and  you  might  believe 
yourself  floating  painlessly  toward  the  gates  of 
Paradise  when  you  are  close  to  the  gates  of  hell. 

"I  will  tell  you  some  of  the  arguments  of  these 
people. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  271 

"They  say  that  Christ  taught  nothing  new,  that 
his  moral  lessons  had  been  taught  before,  and  even 
in  heathen  lands. 

"He  did  not  pretend  to  teach  a  new  morality. 
He  fulfilled  the  law  already  given  by  making 
Charity  the  consort  of  Justice. 

"Is  it  to  be  believed  that  the  Father  of  mankind 
left  his  children,  all  but  a  favored  few,  in  total 
darkness  during  the  ages  that  preceded  Christ? 
'Teste  David  cum  Sibylla,'  sings  the  ^Dies  Irse.' 

"They  will  tell  you  that  the  miraculous  circum- 
stances of  Christ's  birth  are  but  a  parody  on  old 
heathen  myths,  that  a  woman  with  a  Divine  Child 
in  her  arms  was  worshiped  by  the  Indus  and  the 
Nile,  and  that  many  an  ancient  hero  claimed  a  di- 
vine paternity.  They  will  go  to  the  very  root  of 
revelation  and  tell  you  that  Vishnu  floated  on 
primal  seas  even  as  God  moved  on  the  face  of  the 
waters ;  that  while  the  Norse  Ymir  slept,  a  man  and 
a  woman  grew  out  from  under  his  left  arm  like  Eve 
from  sleeping  Adam's  side.  The  fragmentary  re- 
semblances are  countless. 

"  Our  God  be  thanked  that  not  the  Israelite  alone, 
but  even  those  step-children  of  the  Light  had  some 
sense  of  his  coming  footsteps!  They  had  caught 
an  echo  of  the  promise,  for  it  was  made  for  all.  It 
was  moulded  into  the  clay  that  made  their  bodies. 
It  aspired  in  the  spark  that  kindled  their  souls. 

"  I  have  seen  the  nest  of  a  swallow  all  straightly 
built  of  parallel  woven  twigs,  except  in  one  corner. 
In  that  corner,  in  a  shoal  perspective,  was  an  up- 


272  SAN  SALVADOR. 

right  end  of  pale  brown  stick  shaped  like  an  an- 
tique altar.  Two  tiny  twigs  were  laid  on  top  as 
for  a  fire,  and  from  them  rose  a  point  of  bright 
yellow  leaf  for  a  flame.  A  pencil  could  not  draw 
the  shapes  in  better  proportion,  nor  color  them 
more  perfectly. 

"Above  the  leaf -flame  was  hung  a  cross  like  a 
letter  X,  which  is  a  rising  or  a  falling  cross.  This, 
floating  in  the  air  above  the  altar,  seemed  a  veiled 
interpretation  of  the  sacrifice.  Larger,  inclosing 
all,  was  an  upright  cross,  the  beam  of  which  formed 
one  side  of  a  triangle,  the  figure  of  the  Trinity. 

"These  figures  were  laid,  one  over  the  other,  in- 
creasing in  size  from  the  altar  outward,  the  victim 
announced,  the  mode  of  his  sacrifice  hinted,  and 
his  divinity  proclaimed,  —  all  the  emblems  of  Chris- 
tianity plainly  and  chronologically  set.  What 
breath  of  the  great  all-pervading  harmony  blew 
these  symbols  to  the  beak  of  a  nesting  bird  ! 

"  From  the  first  records  that  we  possess  of  human 
life,  a  divine  legend  or  a  divine  expectation  looms 
before  the  souls  of  men,  vague  as  to  time,  some- 
times confused  in  outline,  but  ever  striking  some 
harmonious  chord  with  their  own  needs  and  aspira- 
tions, and  with  the  visible  world  about  them. 

"See  those  southern  mountain-tops  half  hidden 
in  a  fleet  of  clouds  just  sailing  over  !  Even  we 
who  know  those  heights  from  infancy  can  scarce  be 
certain  what  is  rock  and  what  is  mist  in  all  those 
outlines.  A  cliff  runs  up  in  shadow,  and  masses 
of  frowning  vapors  catch  and  carry  its  profile  al- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  273 

most  to  tlie  zenith.  There  is  a  rounded  mountain 
where  the  snow  never  lingered ;  and  a  pile  of  snowy 
cumuli  has  settled  on  its  grayness,  and  sharpened 
itself  to  a  fairy  pinnacle  to  mock  our  ice-peaks,  and 
sifted  its  white  drifts  into  crevices  downward,  and 
set  its  alabaster  buttresses  to  confuse  our  know- 
ledge of  the  old  familiar  height.  Yonder  where  the 
White  Lady  has  stood  during  all  the  years  of  our 
lives,  pure  and  stainless  against  the  blue  southwest, 
a  dazzling  v/hirl  of  sun-bleached  mists  has  usurped 
her  place,  leaving  visible  only  her  pedestal  wreathed 
about  with  olive-trees. 

"  But  if  you  watch  awhile  the  slowly  moving 
veil,  gathering  with  care  each  glimpse  of  an  un- 
changing outline,  you  can  build  vip  again  the  solid 
mountain  wall. 

"So  the  heathen,  yes!  and  the  Jew  also,  saw 
the  coming  Christ.  Anubis,  Isis,  Osiris,  Buddha, 
Thor,  — they  had  each  some  inch-long  outline,  some 
divine  hand -breadth  of  truth  running  off  into  fan- 
tastic myth. 

"  Were  they  content  with  their  gods,  those  puz- 
zled but  reverent  souls  ?  No ;  for  they  were  ever 
seeking  new  ones,  or  adding  some  new  feature  to 
the  old.  Their  Sj)hinx,  combining  in  herself  the 
forms  of  woman  and  lion,  dog,  serpent,  and  bird, 
seemed  set  there  to  ask,  What  form  will  the  Divine 
One  choose?  Are  these  creatures  all  the  children 
of  one  primal  mother?  Of  what  mysterious  syllo- 
gism is  the  brute  creation  the  mystical  conclusion  ? 

"The  German  Lessing  has  well  said  that  'the 


274  SAN  SALVADOR. 

first  and  oldest  oiDinion  in  matters  o£  speculation 
is  always  the  most  probable,  because  common  sense 
immediately  hit  upon  it. '  And,  converging  to  the 
same  conclusion,  an  English  writer,  borrowing, 
however,  from  the  Greek,  has  said  that  'both  Phi- 
losophy and  Romance  take  their  origin  in  wonder ; ' 
and  that  'sometimes  Romance,  in  the  freest  exer- 
cise of  its  wildest  vagaries,  conducts  its  votaries 
toward  the  same  goal  to  which  Philosophy  leads  the 
illuminated  student.' 

"The  early  ages  of  the  world  were  ages  of  ro- 
mance. 

"In  this  supreme  case.  Imagination,  with  her 
wings  of  a  buttei41y  and  her  wings  of  an  eagle, 
soared  till  her  strength  failed  at  a  height  that  was 
half  heaven,  half  earth.  To  this  same  point  phi- 
losophy climbed  her  slow  and  cautious  way.  They 
found  Faith  already  there,  waiting  from  the  begin- 
ning of  time  at  the  feet  of  the  God-made  Man. 

"Again,  these  apostles  of  skepticism  will  tell 
you  that  the  superstitions  of  the  time,  and  the 
prophesies  concerning  Christ,  favored  his  preten- 
sions. 

"If  Christ  had  been  an  impostor,  or  seK-de- 
ceived,  —  the  King's  Majesty  pardon  me  the  suppo- 
sition !  —  in  either  case  he  would  have  striven  to 
conform  as  much  as  possible  to  the  prejudices  of 
that  expectation ;  and  he  would  have  taken  advan- 
tage of  the  popular  enthusiasm,  as  impostors  and 
visionaries  do.  Instead  of  that,  he  set  up  a  pure 
spiritual  system  and  acted  on  it  consistently,  obe- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  275 

dient  (the  Scripture  says)  unto  death.  He  flattered 
no  one.  He  boldly  reproved  the  very  ones  whose 
support  he  might  naturally  have  desired.  In  the 
height  of  his  fame  he  predicted  his  martyrdom. 

"Nor  was  that  time  more  superstitious  than  the 
present,  nor  the  followers  of  Christ  more  credulous 
than  people  of  to-day,  and  not  among  the  ignorant 
alone.  It  is,  in  fact,  notable  how  many  proofs 
they  required.  I  should  say  that  the  Apostles  were 
hard  to  convince,  considering  the  wonders  they  had 
seen.  How  many  times  had  Jesus  to  say  to  them, 
O  ye  of  little  faith  ! 

"  When  the  women  went  to  the  sepulchre,  it  was 
not  to  meet  a  risen  Lord,  but  to  embalm  and  mourn 
over  a  dead  one.  When  Mary  Magdalen  went  to 
tell  the  Apostles  that  Jesus  had  risen,  her  words 
seemed  to  them  an  idle  tale.,  and  they  believed  it  not. 
But  Peter  went  to  see.  He  ran^  Saint  Luke  says. 
He  saw  the  empty  grave,  the  linen  cloths  laid  by; 
and  he  went  away  wondering.,  not  yet  believing, 
though  Magdalen  had  testified  to  having  seen  and 
spoken  with  Jesus,  and  had  given  them  a  message 
from  him,  though  he  had  predicted  his  own  resur- 
rection, and  though  Lazarus  and  the  ruler's 
daughter  were  still  among  them.  Does  this  look 
like  credulity? 

"It  is  not  for  the  present  to  reproach  the  past 
with  superstition,  now  when  every  wildest  fantasy 
flourishes  unchecked.  Some  turn  their  longing 
eyes  back  to  the  old  mythologies.  Like  the  early 
Christian  gnostics,  they  like  to  flatter  themselves 


276  SAN  SALVADOR. 

by  professing  an  occult  worship  which  the  vulgar 
cannot  understand,  and  building  an  inner  sanctuary 
of  belief  where  chosen  ones  may  gather,  veiled  from 
the  multitude.  It  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to 
say  that  the  day  may  not  be  far  distant  when,  in 
lands  called  Christian,  temples  and  altars  may 
again  be  erected  to  Jove,  Cybele,  Diana,  Osiris, 
and  the  rest. 

"The  mind,  like  the  body,  may,  perhaps,  feel 
from  time  to  time  a  need  to  change  its  position. 
But  the  body,  in  all  its  movements,  seeks  instinc- 
tively to  keep  its  equilibrium.  The  equilibrium 
of  the  soul  is  in  its  position  toward  its  Creator. 

"The  paganism  of  to-day  has  this  evil  which  the 
earlier  had  not :  it  is  a  step  in  a  descending  scale. 
In  those  other  days  mankind  seemed  to  be  rising 
from  the  abyss  of  some  immemorial  disaster,  of 
which  all  nations  have  some  fragmentary  tradition. 
In  Christ  the  human  race  reached  its  climax.  He 
was  the  height  of  an  epoch  which  now,  perhaps,  de- 
clines to  a  new  cataclysm. 

"Again,  the  skeptic  tells  you  that  there  were 
and  are  no  miracles.  Presumptuous  tongue  that 
utters  such  denial !  How  do  they  know  that  there 
are  no  miracles? 

"But  what  is  a  miracle?  Is  it  necessary  to  set 
aside  a  law  of  nature  in  order  to  perform  a  miracle  ? 
Was  not  he  who  made  the  law  wise  enough  to  so 
frame  it  that  without  infringement  he  could  per- 
form wonders?  The  miracle  of  one  age  is  the 
science  of  the  next.     Men  do  to-day  without  excit- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  277 

ing  wonder  what  a  few  centuries  ago  would  have 
consigned  them  to  the  stake  as  magicians. 

"The  miracles  of  Christ  were  the  acts  of  one 
having  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  are  a  stronger  proof  of  his  divinity  than 
any  invasion  of  those  laws  could  be.  It  was  mi- 
raculous that  a  seeming  man  should  have  such 
knowledge. 

"Another  criticism  of  religious  teachers  in  both 
the  old  and  the  new  law  is  their  ignorance  of  phy- 
sical science,  evident  by  commission  as  well  as  by 
omission.  Whether  they  knew  or  not,  common 
sense  alone  should  teach  us  that  if  any  one  an- 
nouncing a  new  religious  truth  should  disturb  the 
preconceptions  of  his  hearers  regarding  physical 
truths  he  would  in  so  much  distract  their  atten- 
tion from  that  which  he  wished  to  teach  them ;  and 
their  credulity,  mider  this  double  attack,  might  fail 
to  accept  anything. 

"Juvenal's  dictum,  'bread  and  games,'  for  the 
government  of  a  people,  is  true  of  all  mankind  in 
a  higher  sense.  Physical  science  is  man's  cir- 
censes.  It  exercises  his  intellect,  amuses  him  and 
his  kind,  and  every  new  discovery  should  excite  in 
him  a  higher  admiration  of  the  Creator.  It  was 
not  necessary  that  the  Son  of  God  shoidd  become 
man,  or  rise  from  the  dead  in  order  to  teach  the 
movements  of  the  starry  spheres,  or  the  secret 
workings  of  terrestrial  powers.      Cir censes  ! 

"What  matters  it  to  the  interests  of  man's  im- 
mortal soul  if  the  earth  is  a  stationary  platform,  or 


278  SAN  SALVADOR. 

a  globe  rolling  tlirougli  space  with  a  clouWe,  per- 
haps a  triple  motion  !  What  cares  the  dying  man 
for  the  powers  of  steam,  or  electricity,  or  the  laws 
of  the  ways  of  the  wind  !     Clrcenses  !     Oircenses  ! 

"Christ  came  to  bring  the  bread  of  life,  the 
heavenly  Panem^  without  which  there  is  no  life 
nor  growth  for  the  spirit. 

"  My  children,  you  are  counseled  to  patience  and 
gentleness.  But  listen  not  in  silence  when  any  one 
reviles  your  King.  Say  little  to  them  of  the  God, 
lest  they  blaspheme  the  more;  but  say,  Behold 
the  man  I  It  is  not  pious  people  alone  who  have 
lauded  him,  nor  theologians  only  who  have  borne 
testimony  to  him. 

"Napoleon  I.,  a  warrior,  an  eagle  among  men, 
said  of  Jesus  Christ:  'I  know  man,  and  I  tell  you 
that  Christ  was  not  a  man.  Everything  about 
Christ  astonishes  me.  His  spirit  overwhelms  and 
confounds  me.  There  is  no  comparison  between 
him  and  any  other  being.  Alexander,  Caesar, 
Charlemagne,  and  I  have  founded  empires ;  but  on 
what  rests  the  creation  of  our  genius?  On  force. 
Jesus  alone  founded  his  empire  on  love.' 

"You  will  find  no  peer  of  Napoleon  I.  among 
those  who  can  see  no  greatness  in  Jesus  Christ. 

"Carlyle  says  of  Christ  that  he  was  'the  highest 
soul  that  ever  was  on  earth. ' 

"Such  names  will  more  impress  the  mocker 
than  will  the  name  of  saint  or  apostle. 

"Bid  them  look  at  his  humility  when  he  was  per- 
sonally criticised,  and  at  his  sublime  assumption 


SAN  SALVADOR.  279 

when  proclaiming  his  mission.  /  am  the  Light 
of  the  world.  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life.  All  ])ower  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
on  earth. 

"Did  any  other  teacher  of  men  ever  ntter  such 
words?  See  him  with  the  scourge  in  his  hand  I 
See  him  with  the  lily  in  his  hand  ! 

"  O  happy  blossom  !  to  be  so  looked  at,  touched 
and  spoken  of.  Did  it  fade  away  as  other  blos- 
soms do?  Does  its  seed  yet  live  upon  the  earth? 
Does  the  Syrian  sunshine  of  to-day  still  paint  the 
petals  of  its  almost  nineteen  hundredth  genera- 
tion ? 

"How  dare  these  preachers  of  destruction  try 
to  rob  the  human  race  of  such  a  teacher?  What 
have  they  to  give  in  exchange  for  him?  Who 
among  them  all  has  a  message  that  can  gild  the 
clouds  of  life,  and  make  of  pain  and  of  obscurity 
a  promise  and  a  crown?  Never  in  our  era  as  now 
has  there  been  such  temporal  need  of  the  softening 
influences  of  Christianity.  The  poor  and  the  op- 
pressed of  all  the  world,  maddened  by  suffering 
and  insult,  outraged  by  hypocrisy  and  deceit,  are 
rising  everywhere  with  the  desperate  motto  almost 
on  their  lips,  Let  us  eat  and  drinh.,  for  to-morrow 
toe  die.  A  Samson  mocked  at  by  fools  and  fiends, 
their  arms  grope  blindly  out,  searching  for  the  pil- 
lars of  a  corrupted  state. 

"And  this  is  the  moment  chosen  to  dethrone  the 
Peacemaker  of  the  universe  !  Yerily,  whom  the 
gods  would  destroy  they  first  make  mad ! 


280  SAX  SALVADOE. 

"Will  teachers  like  these  incite  men  to  heroic 
deeds?  They  destroy  honor  and  heroism  from  off 
the  face  of  the  earth !  They  forge  their  chains  and 
lay  their  traps  for  anarchy ;  yet  there  is  no  preacher 
of  anarchy  so  dangerous,  even  for  this  life,  as  he 
who  seehs  to  dethrone  in  the  hearts  of  men  their 
martyred  Lover,  Jesus  of  Nazareth!  " 

The  old  man  paused,  and,  with  his  eyes  fixed  far 
away  over  the  heads  of  the  audience  to  where  the 
sky  and  mountains  met,  lifted  his  arms  in  silent 
invocation.  Then,  drooping,  he  came  feebly  down 
from  the  pulpit. 

The  boys  for  whom  his  address  had  been  espe- 
cially meant  pressed  forward  to  receive  him,  and 
conduct  him  to  a  seat. 

Then  the  chimes  began  softly,  and  they  all  sang 
their  last  hymn  together: 

"  Let  veiling-  shadows,  O  Almighty  One, 

Hide  from  thy  sight  the  dust  wherein  we  lie  I 
Look,  we  heseech  thee,  on  thine  only  Son : 
No  other  name  but  Jesus  lift  we  on  high  ! 

"  Fallen  and  alien,  only  him  we  boast 

Strong-  to  defend  from  Satan's  bonds  of  shame : 
Jesus  our  sword  and  buckler,  Jesus  our  host,  — 
No  other  name,  Creator,  no  other  name  ! 

"  No  other  name,  O  Holy  One  and  Just, 

Call  we  to  stand  between  lis  and  thy  blame : 
Jesus  our  ransom,  our  advocate  and  trust,  — 
No  other  name,  Dread  Justice,  no  other  name  I 

*'  No  other  name,  0  God  of  gods,  can  rise 

Pure  and  accepted  on  thine  altar's  flame  : 


SAN  SALVADOB.  281 

Jesus  our  perfumed  incense  and  our  sacrifice,  — 
No  other  name,  Most  Holy,  no  other  name  ! 

"  No  other  soul-light  while  on  earth  we  grope, 
Only  through  him  eternal  light  we  claim : 
Jesus  our  heavenly  brother,  Jesus  our  hope,  — 
No  other  name,  Our  Father,  no  other  name  !  " 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

They  were  gone ;  and  San  Salvador  resumed  its 
usual  life,  too  happy  to  have  a  history.  A  mes- 
senger went  out  and  a  messenger  came  in  once  a 
month,  and  D3  lar  held  in  his  hand  the  threads  of 
all  their  delicate  far-stretching  web. 

lona  before  going  had  obtained  his  approval  of 
some  of  her  plans,  which  were  in  fact  his  own,  and 
the  first  messenger  from  her  went  directly  to  the 
Olives,  where  he  bought  a  large  tract  of  land. 

"Do  not  seek  now  to  preserve  a  compact  terri- 
tory," she  said.  "You  may  find  yourself  hemmed 
in.  Buy  some  of  the  rising  land  southward  along 
the  river,  and  let  the  next  purchase  connect  it  with 
the  Olives.  Let  that  connection  be  made  as  soon 
as  possible." 

"lona  has  force  and  foresight,"  Dylar  said.  "It 
is  well.  I  sympathize  with  her  impatience.  But 
I  know  my  duty  to  be  more  one  of  conservation 
than  of  enterprise." 

After  leaving  his  wife  for  a  week,  which  he  spent 
at  the  castle,  "I  have  bought  land  all  along  the 
river  for  two  miles,"  he  told  her;  "and  our  friend 
has  bought  a  tract  crossing  mine,  but  not  joining 
it.  It  is  sand  and  stones ;  but  planted  first  with 
canes,  can  be  coaxed  to  something  better.     Water 


SAN  SALVADOR.  283 

is  going  to  be  as  important  a  question  with  us  as 
it  was  with  the  Israelites.  I  thought  of  them  as  I 
walked  over  my  parched  domain,  and  it  occurred 
to  me  as  never  before,  that  a  spring  of  water  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  things  on  earth,  to  the  mind 
as  well  as  the  eyes." 

"I  am  glad  that  you  have  gratified  lona's  first 
expressed  wish,"  his  wife  said.  "Naturally,  the 
first  wind  of  the  world  in  her  face  fanned  the  idea 
to  a  flame.  She  is  now  occupying  herself  with 
other  thoughts." 

lona  was  occupied  with  other  thoughts. 

Let  us  take  two  or  three  glimpses  of  her  through 
a  clairvoyant's  mind. 

It  is  a  wretched-looking  street  in  an  old  city.  A 
lady  and  a  policeman  stand  on  the  sidewalk  at  an 
open  door,  inside  which  a  stair  goes  up  darkly. 

Said  the  man :  — 

"You  had  better  let  me  go  up  with  you,  lady. 
She  's  always  furious  when  she  is  just  out  of  jail. 
We  find  it  best  to  let  her  alone  for  a  while." 

"I  would  rather  go  up  alone,"  the  lady  said. 
"Is  the  stair  safe?" 

"There's  no  one  else  will  touch  you,"  said  the 
policeman.  "It  is  the  room  at  the  head  of  the  last 
stair.  I  will  stay  round  till  you  come  down.  But 
you  must  be  careful.  She  doesn't  like  visitors, 
especially  missionaries." 

The  lady  went  upstairs.  There  were  three  dirty, 
discolored  flights.  She  tapped  once  and  again  at 
the  door  of  the  attic  chamber;  but  there  was  no 
response.     She  opened  the  door. 


284  SAN  SALVADOB. 

There  was  a  miserable  room  where  everything 
seemed  to  be  dirt-colored.  In  one  corner  was  a 
bed  on  the  floor.  There  was  not  a  thread  of  white 
about  it.  From  some  rolled-up  garments  that  an- 
swered for  a  pillow  looked  out  a  wild  face.  The 
dark  hair  was  tangled,  the  face  hollow,  dark  circles 
surrounded  the  eyes.  "What  do  you  want?  "  came 
roughly  from  the  creature  as  the  door  softly  opened. 

"Let  me  come  in,  j)lease!"  said  a  quiet  voice. 
"I  have  knocked  twice." 

"What  do  you  want?"  the  voice  repeated  yet 
more  roughly. 

The  lady  came  in  and  closed  the  door  behind 
her.  She  stood  a  moment,  hesitating.  Then, 
hesitating  still,  approached  the  bed,  step  by  step, 
saluted  again  fiercely  by  a  repetition  of  the  ques- 
tion, "What  do  you  want?"  the  woman  rising  on 
one  elbow  as  she  spoke. 

The  visitor  reached  the  side  of  the  pallet.  She 
was  trembling,  but  not  with  fear.  She  fell  on  her 
knees,  uttering  a  long  tremulous  "Oh  !  "  and  lean- 
ing forward,  clasped  the  squalid  creature  in  her 
arms,  and  kissed  her  on  the  cheek. 

The  woman  tried  to  push  her  away.  "How  dare 
you  I  "she  exclaimed,  gasping  with  astonishment. 
"Do  you  know  what  I  am?  How  dare  you  touch 
me?     I  am  just  out  of  jail!  " 

"You  shall  not  go  there  again,  poor  soul! "  the 
lady  said,  still  embracing  her.  "Tell  me  how  it 
came  about.  Was  not  your  mother  kind  to  you 
when  you  were  a  child  ?  " 


SAN  SALVADOR.  285 

The  woman  looked  dazed.  "My  motlier  !  "  she 
said.  "She  used  to  beat  me.  She  liked  my 
brother  best." 

"Ah!  "  saidlona. 

Another  scene.  It  is  a  fine  boudoir  in  a  city  in 
the  New  World.  A  coquettishly  dressed  young 
woman  reclines  on  a  couch.  Before  her,  seated  in 
a  low  chair* and  leaning  toward  her,  gazing  at  her, 
fascinated,  is  a  young  man  scarcely  more  than  half 
her  age.  At  the  foot  of  the  couch  is  a  tall  brasier 
of  wrought  brass  from  which  rises  a  thread  of  in- 
cense-smoke. Heavy  curtains  half  swathe  two  long 
windows  opening  on  to  a  veranda  that  extends  to 
the  long  windows  of  an  adjoining  drawing-room. 
In  one  of  these  windows,  nearly  hidden  by  the  cur- 
tain, sits  another  lady  with  a  bonnet  on.  She  looks 
intently  out  into  the  street,  as  if  watching  some  one, 
or  waiting  for  some  one.  The  curtain  gathered  be- 
fore her  head  and  shoulders,  leaves  uncovered  a  fold 
of  a  skirt  of  dark  gray,  and  a  silver  chatelaine -bag. 

"I  hope  that  you  will  conclude  to  choose  jour- 
nalism," said  the  lady  on  the  lounge,  continuing  a 
conversation.  "It  so  often  leads  to  authorship. 
And  I  have  set  my  heart  on  your  being  a  famous 
poet." 

"I,  madam!"  exclaimed  the  young  man,  blush- 
ing. "I  never  attempted  to  write  poetry.  It  is 
true  that  when  with  you  I  become  aware  of  some 
mysterious  music  in  the  universe  which  I  know  not 
how  to  express." 


286  SAN  SALVADOR. 

The  lady  smiled  and  made  a  quick,  warning 
signal  to  remind  him  of  the  other  occupant  of  the 
boudoir. 

"I  am,  then,  stirring  your  ambition,"  she  said. 
"I  have  done  more.  I  have  spoken  of  you  to  a 
friend  of  mine  who  is  connected  with  a  popular 
magazine.  That  would  allow  you  leisure  to  culti- 
vate your  beautiful  imagination." 

"How  kind  you  are  !  "  her  visitof  exclaimed. 
"But  my  principal  depends  on  me;  and  I  think 
that  I  can  be  useful  to  him." 

The  lady  made  a  pettish  movement. 

"He  can  get  others  to  do  his  humdrum  work. 
I  heard  him  speak  once,  and  did  not  like  him. 
They  call  him  'broad.'  Oh,  yes!  he  is  very 
broad.  He  reminds  me  of  one  of  my  school-lessons 
in  natural  philosophy.  The  book  said  that  a  single 
grain  of  gold  may  be  hammered  out  to  cover  — 
I  have  forgotten  how  many  hundreds  of  square 
inches.  Not  that  I  mean  to  call  your  principal  a 
man  of  gold,  though.  Yes,  he  is  broad,  very  broad. 
But  he  is,  oh,  so  very  thin  !  " 

The  young  man  looked  grave.  "I  am  pained 
that  you  do  not  esteem  him.  Perhaps  you  do  not 
quite  understand  his  character." 

"Now,  you,"  said  the  lady,  fixing  her  eyes  on 
his,  "you  seem  to  me  to  have  great  depth  of  feel- 
ing and  profound  convictions." 

There  was  an  abrupt  rustling  sound  at  the  win- 
dow. The  lady  there  had  risen  and  stepped  out 
into  the  veranda.  They  could  hear  her  go  to  the 
drawing-room  window  and  enter. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  287 

"She  is  so  much  at  her  ease!  "  said  the  lady  of 
the  lounge.  ''  She  was  recommended  to  me  by  a 
friend  as  a  companion  with  whom  I  could  keep  up 
my  French.  We  speak  no  other  language  to  each 
other.  But  she  does  not  act  in  the  least  like  a  de- 
pendent.    I  must  really  get  rid  of  her." 

A  servant  opened  the  door  to  say  that  the  car- 
riage the  gentleman  expected  had  come. 

"Must  you  go?"  the  lady  exclaimed  reproach- 
fully. 

"I  promised  to  go  the  moment  the  carriage 
should  come.  I  don't  know  what  it  is  for;  but  it 
is  some  business  of  importance.  I  am  sorry  to  go. 
When  may  I  come  again?  " 

"To-morrow."     She  held  out  her  hand. 

He  took  it  in  his,  hesitated,  bent  to  kiss  the  del- 
icate fingers,  blushed,  and  turned  away. 

She  looked  smilingly  after  him,  bent  her  head 
as  he  turned  and  bowed  lowly  at  the  door,  and 
when  it  closed,  laughed  softly  to  herself.  "Beau- 
tiful boy!"  she  murmured.  "It  is  too  amusing. 
He  is  as  fresh  as  a  rose  in  its  first  dawn  and  as 
fiery  as  Pegasus." 

The  young  man  entered  hastily  the  close  carriage 
at  the  step  before  perceiving  that  a  lady  sat  there. 
She  was  thickly  veiled. 

"I  beg  your  pardon!  "  he  began. 

Without  taking  any  notice  of  him,  she  leaned 
quickly,  shut  the  door  with  a  snap  and  pulled  the 
curtain  down,  and  left  a  beautiful  ringless,  glove- 
less   hand    resting    advanced   on    her   knee.     He 


288  SAN  SALVADOR. 

looked  at  the  hand,  and  his  lips  parted  breathlessly. 
He  tried  in  vain  to  see  the  face  through  that  thick 
veil. 

The  lady  pushed  the  mantle  away  from  her 
shoulders  and  arms,  so  that  her  form  was  revealed. 

The  young  man  made  a  start  forward,  then  re- 
coiled: for,  hanging  down  the  gray  folds  of  the 
lady's  skirt  was  the  silver  chatelaine-bag  he  had 
seen  in  the  boudoir.  What  did  her  companion 
want  of  him? 

The  lady  flung  her  veil  aside. 

"Oh,  lona!"  he  cried,  and  fell  into  his  sister's 
embrace. 

After  a  moment  she  put  him  back,  looking  at 
him  reproachfully. 

"Oh,  Ion,  so  soon  in  trouble  I  I  heard  of  you 
in  the  hands  of  a  Delilah,  and  I  left  everything.  I 
obtained  the  place  which  would  enable  me  to  know 
all  —  her  guile  and  your  infatuation.  She  amuses 
herself  with  you.  She  has  said  to  me  that  you  are 
in  love  with  her,  and  do  not  know  it.  Her  husband 
is  angry,  and  people  talk.  So  soon!  So  soon! 
Oh,  Ion!  " 

"She  said  it! "  he  stammered,  becoming  pale. 

"  She  said  it  to  me  laughing.  She  described  you 
gazing  at  her.     She  laugLs  at  your  innocence." 

The  boy  shuddered.  "I  will  never  see  her 
as^ain  !" 

Again  the  clairvoyant. 

It  is  a  bleak   November  day  in  a   city  of  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  289 

North.  Pedestrians  hurry  along,  drawing  their 
wrappings  about  them.  Standing  close  to  the  walls 
of  a  church  in  one  of  the  busiest  streets,  an  old  man 
tries  to  shelter  himself  from  the  wind.  He  is  thin 
and  pale  and  poorly  clad,  but  he  has  the  air  of  a 
gentleman,  though  an  humble  one.  There  is  deli- 
cacy and  amiability  in  his  face ;  his  fine  thin  hair, 
clouded  with  white,  is  smoothly  combed,  and  his 
cotton  collar  is  white.  On  his  left  arm  hangs  a 
small  covered  basket,  and  his  right  hand  holds  a 
pink  wax  rose  slightly  extended  to  the  passers-by, 
with  a  patient  half  smile  ready  for  any  possible 
purchaser. 

For  a  week  he  had  stood  there  every  day,  cold, 
weary  and  tremulous  with  suspense,  and  no  one 
had  even  given  him  a  second  glance.  But  that  he 
did  not  know,  for  he  was  too  timid  to  look  any  one 
in  the  face. 

The  afternoon  waned.  People  were  going  to  their 
homes:  but  the  old  man  still  stood  there  holdins^ 
out  the  pink  wax  rose.  Perhaps  the  most  pitiful 
thing  about  him  was  that  what  he  offered  was  so 
worthless,  and  he  did  not  know  it.  Some,  glancing 
as  they  passed,  had,  in  fact,  laughed  at  his  flower 
and  him. 

At  length  a  lady,  walking  down  the  other  side  of 
the  street,  caught  a  glimpse  of  him.  She  stopped 
and  looked  back,  then  crossed  over  and  passed 
him  slowly  by,  giving  a  sidelong,  searching  look 
into  his  face.  Having  passed,  she  turned  and 
came  back  again. 


290  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"Have  you  flowers  in  the  basket  also,  sir?"  she 
courteously  asked. 

He  started,  and  blushed  with  surprise  and  agita- 
tion. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  and  opened  the  little  basket  with 
cold  and  shaking  fingers,  displaying  his  pitiful 
store. 

"What  is  your  price  for  them  all?"  the  lady 
asked. 

He  hesitated,  still  trembling.  "If  you  would 
kindly  tell  me  what  you  think  they  are  worth,"  he 
said.  "I  do  not  know.  My  daughter  made  them 
when  she  went  to  school." 

"Does  she  make  them  now?"  the  lady  asked, 
taking  both  rose  and  basket  from  his  hands. 

A  look  of  woe  replaced  his  troubled  smile.  "  She 
is  dead!  "  he  said  with  a  faint  moan. 

"Have  you  other  children?"  was  the  next  ques- 
tion. 

"No.  My  daughter  left  a  little  girl  who  lives 
with  us,  my  wife  and  me." 

"Will  you  be  satisfied  with  this?"  the  lady 
asked,  and  gave  a  larger  sum  than  the  old  man 
had  dreamed  of  asking.  "If  you  think  they  are 
worth  more,  please  tell  me  so." 

"I  didn't  expect  so  much,"  he  said.  "It  was 
my  child's  hands  that  gave  them  their  value  to 
me." 

Tears  ran  down  his  cheeks.  He  tried  to  re- 
strain them,  and  to  hide  that  he  must  wipe  them 
with  his  sleeve. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  291 

The  lady  slipped  a  folded  handkerchief  into  his 
hand.  ^'Farewell,  and  take  comfort,"  she  said 
hastily.      ''God  will  provide." 

She  turned  to  a  man  who  had  followed,  and 
paused  near  her. 

''Find  out  who  he  is,  what  he  is,  and  where  he 
lives,  and  tell  me  as  soon  as  possible,"  she  said  in 
a  low  voice. 

The  same  evening,  in  a  suburb  of  the  city:  a 
little  mipainted  cottage,  black  with  age,  set  on  a 
raw  clay  bank.  A  railroad  has  undermined  the 
bank  and  carried  away  the  turf. 

A  faint  light  showed  through  one  window.  In 
a  room  with  a  bed  in  one  corner  an  elderly  woman 
was  making  tea  at  a  small  open  fire  of  sticks.  In 
the  adjoining  kitchen  Boreas  reigned  supreme.  All 
the  warmth  that  they  could  have  was  gathered  in 
this  room,  where  the  child  also  would  sleep  on  an 
old  lounge. 

She  sat  in  the  corner  of  the  chimney  now,  wist- 
fully watching  the  preparations  for  supper. 

In  the  other  corner  sat  her  grandfather.  He 
had  taken  a  blanket  from  the  bed  and  wrapped  it 
round  him.     He  was  shivering. 

"It  was  hard  to  part  with  the  flowers,"  the  man 
was  saying.  "They  were  all  that  we  have  left  of 
her !  But  to  a  person  like  that,  —  a  lady,  a  Chris- 
tian, stn  angel !  —  it  seemed  like  giving  them  to  a 
friend  who  will  keep  them  more  safely  than  we 
can."     He  choked,  and  wiped  his  eyes. 

"Well,"  said  the  wife  drearily;   "we  must  econ- 


292  SAN  SALVADOR. 

omize  the  money  she  gave  you  for  them.  We  have 
nothmg  else  to  sell." 

They  were  silent,  trying  not  to  think,  and  dar- 
ing not  to  speak.  They  had  once  been  in  comfort- 
able circumstances ;  and  now  beggary  stared  them 
in  the  face,  and  the  horror  of  the  almshouse  loomed 
before  them,  not  for  themselves  alone,  but  for  the 
child.  If  they  found  a  home  for  her,  she  might  not 
be  happy  there ;  and  they  would  see  her  no  more. 

Suddenly  the  old  man  burst  out  crying.  "I 
can't  stand  it!  "  he  sobbed.  "I  can't  stand  it !  I 
almost  wish  I  hadn't  seen  the  lady.  I  was  growing 
hardened.  I  was  forgetting  that  any  one  had  ever 
addressed  me  as  a  gentleman.  It  was  becoming 
an  ugly  dream  to  me,  all  this  do^^Tifall !  And  she 
has  waked  me  up  I  "     He  sobbed  aloud. 

"Don't !  Don't  I  "  said  the  woman.  "And  there 
is  some  one  knocking.  Nellie,  take  the  candle,  and 
go  to  the  door." 

The  old  man  got  up,  throwing  the  blanket  from 
his  shoulders ;  and  the  two  stood  in  darkness,  hold- 
ing their  breath. 

There  was  a  murmur  of  voices  at  the  door,  and 
the  candle  came  shining  into  the  room  again,  and 
steps  were  heard,  both  light,  as  if  two  children 
were  about  to  enter. 

Then  a  lady  appeared  on  the  threshold,  looking 
in  eagerly  with  bright  eyes. 

"Ah,  'tis  you,  sir!  "  she  said.  "I  am  sure  that 
you  expected  me.  I  am  so  glad  to  have  found  you! 
Your  troubles  are  all  over!  " 


SAN  SALVADOR.  293 

One  more  glimpse  through  space. 

A  train  of  cars  is  going  through  the  Alps,  from 
Lugano  southward.  Four  persons  occupy  one  of 
the  easy  first-class  compartments.  There  are  two 
talkative  ladies  in  the  back  seat  who  seem  quite 
willing  to  dazzle  the  gentleman  sitting  opposite 
them.  He  has  an  interesting  face,  an  athletic 
frame,  and  gray  eyes  that  are  at  once  enthusiastic 
and  laughing.  When  serious,  the  face  is  very  se- 
rious, and  the  attitude  changes  a  little,  assuming 
more  dignity.  He  is  evidently  enchanted  with 
the  scene,  for  he  smiles  faintly  when  lifting  his 
eyes  to  the  snowy  heights  with  their  cascades,  or 
leaning  close  to  the  window  to  see  the  green  waters 
below  dashed  into  foam  among  the  rocks. 

Once  he  glanced  at  the  ladies  before  him  as  if 
for  sympathy,  but  perceiving  none,  restrained  some 
expression  of  admiration  which  he  had  seemed 
about  to  utter. 

More  than  once  he  glanced  at  a  lady  who  sat  in 
the  farthest  corner  of  the  compartment,  looking  out 
in  the  opposite  direction.  She  had  a  somewhat 
dusky  oval  face,  dark  eyes  with  long  lashes,  and 
black  hair  heavy  about  the  forehead.  She  looked 
like  a  grand  lady,  though  she  was  traveling  alone. 
She  wore  a  simple  costume  of  a  dark  dull  purple 
and  a  full  scarf  of  yellow-tinted  lace  loosely  tied 
around  her  neck. 

She  took  no  notice  of  her  traveling  companions. 
The  wild  grandeur  of  the  scene  was  reflected  in  her 
uplifted  eyes,  and  woke  an  occasional  sparkle  in 


294  SAN  SALVADOR. 

them;  but  she  seemed  not  strange  to  the  moun- 
tains. 

Once,  when  the  rock  wall  shut  close  to  her  side 
of  the  carriage,  she  turned  toward  the  other  side, 
just  skimming  the  three  strangers  with  a  glance. 
At  that  moment  their  progress  unrolled  an  exqui- 
site mountain  picture,  and  the  gentleman  turning 
toward  her  quickly,  they  exchanged  an  involun- 
tary smile. 

"I  never  was  so  enamored  of  the  Alps  as  some 
people  are,"  said  one  of  the  other  ladies  to  her 
companion.  She  had  caught  this  sign  of  sympa- 
thy.     "They  are  so  theatrical." 

Her  friend  laughed.  "You  remind  me,"  she 
replied,  "of  the  man  who  said  that  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  human  nature  in  God." 

The  stranger  lady  started. 

"Madam!  "  she  exclaimed. 

The  one  who  had  spoken  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

The  gentleman  changed  his  seat  for  one  opposite 
the  stranger. 

"Madam,"  he  said,  removing  his  hat,  "if  you 
will  not  allow  me  the  liberty  of  expressing  to  you 
the  delight  I  have  in  these  mountains,  I  shall  be 
forced  to  soliloquize.  I  find  it  impossible  to  con- 
tain myself." 

"Speak  freely,  sir!"  she  said  with  a  pleasant 
look,  but  some  stateliness.  "If  I  were  not  a 
daughter  of  the  mountains,  I  think  this  scene  would 
force  me  to  speak,  if  I  had  to  soliloquize." 

"I  have  never  been  here  before,"  the  gentleman 
said.      "I  had  not  known  that  Mother  Earth  could 


SAN  SALVADOR.  295 

be  so  beautiful,  so  eloquent.  Does  she  not  speak? 
Does  she  not  sing?  Who  will  interpret  to  us  her 
language,  her  messages?" 

"Once  upon  a  time,"  the  lady  said,  "a  saintly- 
ruler  showed  his  people  a  grain  of  gold  that  had 
been  dug  out  of  a  wild  rough  place  in  the  earth; 
and  he  told  them  that  where  he  found  it  the  earth 
had  given  him  a  message  for  them.      It  was  this : 

"'Dig  for  your  gold,  my  children!  says  Earth, 
your  Mother.  Deep  in  your  hearts  it  lies  hid- 
den.'" 

The  gentleman  looked  out  of  the  window  in  silence 
for  awhile.  Then  he  opened  a  hand-bag  that  lay 
on  the  seat  by  his  side,  and  wrote  a  few  words  in  a 
note-book  there.  The  book  was  a  little  red  mo- 
rocco one,  with  the  name  Ludwig  von  Hitter  in 
gilt  letters  on  the  cover. 

They  spoke  of  the  scenery  as  they  went  on,  and 
presently  approached  a  station. 

"I  shall  in  future  take  my  recreation  in  travel- 
ing," the  gentleman  said.  "  I  have  heretofore  taken 
it  in  the  social  pleasures  of  Paris  or  Vienna.  One 
spends  time  very  gayly  in  either  of  those  capitals." 

The  lady  was  silent  a  moment,  then  murmured 
as  if  to  herself : 

'•'E2^oif'' 

He  looked  at  her  with  a  smile.  "Why,  then," 
he  said,  "it  is  true  that  one  sometimes  has  a  head- 
ache, and  is  willing  to  resume  one's  duties." 

The  train  drew  up.  The  lady  called  a  porter, 
and,  with  a  courteous  but  distant  salutation  to  the 
gentleman,  departed. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

When  spring  came  round  again,  Tacita  was  a 
mother,  having  given  birth  to  the  tenth  Dylar. 

"And  now  we  say  a  Pater  Noster^'''  she  said. 
"Is  there  more  than  a  decade  without  change?  " 

Becoming  a  mother,  it  seemed  as  if  she  had  ceased 
to  be  anything  else.  The  most  that  the  people 
saw  of  her  was  when  she  sat  under  the  awning  of 
her  little  terrace  with  some  work  in  her  hand  and 
her  foot  on  the  rocker  of  the  cradle,  her  eyes  scarce 
ever  straying  beyond  the  one  or  the  other,  and 
thinking,  thinking. 

Dylar  had  removed  her  decidedly  from  all  outside 
duties.  It  was  the  custom  in  San  Salvador  for  the 
mother  to  leave  all  for  her  child;  and  more  de- 
pended on  this  sunny-faced  infant  than  on  any 
other.  It  was  enough  for  her  to  train  the  child,  to 
note  every  manifestation  of  character,  to  watch 
with  dilating  eyes  every  sign  of  intelligence,  to  cry 
out  with  delight  at  every  mark  of  sweetness,  or 
tremble  at  what  might  be  a  fault. 

He  was  sometimes  astonished  at  her  far-sighted- 
ness, but  never  at  her  strength.  He  had  seen  the 
steely  fibre  in  her  gentle  nature  even  when,  a  child, 
she  had  mistaken  him  for  a  beggar  and  called  him 
"brother." 


SAN  SALVADOR.  297 

That  strength  manifested  itself  now  in  the  firm- 
ness with  which  she  faced  the  necessity  of  soon 
giving  the  child  into  the  hands  of  others  for  the 
greater  part  of  his  education.  Dylar  had  not  the 
courage  to  remind  her  of  this  necessity  in  the  first 
rapture  and  tremor  of  her  motherhood.  There 
were  times  when  he  even  asked  liimseK  if  it  might 
not  be  evaded. 

It  was  Tacita  who  spoke  first,  one  evening,  as  she 
sat  with  the  child  in  her  arms. 

"I  have  fought  a  battle,  and  conquered,"  she 
said,  smiling.  "  I  looked  forward  to  the  time  when 
my  son  must  go  to  school,  and  I  was  jealous.  To 
miss  him  all  day,  and  know  that  others  are  listen- 
ing while  he  lisps  his  first  little  lessons  !  I  counted 
the  weeks  and  days.  I  searched  for  some  way  of 
escape.  His  birthday  is  in  April,  and  in  April  it 
is  too  early  in  the  year  to  have  a  grief. 

"Then  —  would  you  believe  it,  dearest? — I 
meditated  a  dishonesty!  The  school  is  dismissed, 
I  said,  for  the  harvest,  and  does  not  open  again  till 
the  last  week  of  October.  It  would  be  a  pity  for 
him  to  begin  study  and  his  little  industries,  his  in- 
fant carpenter -work  and  his  small  gardening,  and 
then  forget,  and  have  to  begin  all  over  again.  He 
had  better  not  go  till  ai'ter  harvest-time.  I  had 
my  excuses  all  planned,  when  I  discovered  the 
little  wriggling  serpent  in  my  mind.  Oh,  Dylar! 
What  if  I  should  have  given  the  boy  a  taint  of  that 
blackness  which  I  did  not  know  was  in  me !  I  am 
not  worthy  to  train  him!  " 


298  SAN  SALVADOR. 

She  did  not  raise  her  eyes ;  but  her  husband  knelt 
and  surrounded  both  mother  and  child  with  his 
arms. 

"You  say  that  you  have  conquered,  Tacita.  I 
had  the  same  battle  to  fight  and  had  not  conquered. 
Dear  wife,  how  a  spot  shows  on  your  whiteness! 
What  did  you  resolve  upon?" 

"This,"  she  said.  "On  the  very  morning-  of  his 
birthday,  instead  of  making  holiday  at  home,  we 
will  take  him  by  the  hand  and  lead  him  to  the 
school,  and  his  festa  shall  be  to  meet  for  the  first 
time  all  the  dear  brothers  with  whom  he  is  to  go 
through  life,  whom  he  is  to  help  and  be  helped 
by  when  his  father  and  mother  shall  be  here  no 
longer." 

They  embraced,  and  Tacita  wiped  two  bright 
tears  from  her  husband's  eyelashes.  "I  am  im- 
patient for  lona  to  come  and  see  the  boy,"  she  said 
more  lightly.  "  Nearly  all  her  letter  was  of  him, 
and  she  comes  only  to  see  him.  She  thinks  that 
his  hair  will  grow  darker.  I  want  it  to  be  like 
yours  by  and  by ;  but  this  gold  floss  looks  well  on 
a  baby.  You  must  read  her  letter.  She  wishes 
me  to  have  a  little  oil  portrait  of  him  taken  that 
she  can  carry  away  with  her.  The  messenger  who 
came  yesterday  is  an  artist,  she  writes,  and  makes 
lovely  pictures  of  infants.  She  chose  him  for  that,, 
reason." 

lona  appeared  to  them  suddenly  on  one  of  those 
June  days.  She  came  laden  with  gifts,  letters  and 
photographs,  and  had  so  many  messages  to  deliver, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  299 

and  so  much  to  tell,  that  for  several  hours  of  every 
day  for  a  week  she  sat  in  the  dance -room  at  the 
Star-house,  to  talk  with  any  one  who  might  wish  to 
come  to  her.  The  rest  of  her  time  was  spent  at 
the  school,  or  hanging-  over  the  infant  Dylar. 

Those  who  had  never  been  outside  could  not  tire 
of  hearing  her  talk,  and  looking  at  the  photographs 
and  prints  she  had  brought.  These  pictures  had 
been  carefully  chosen.  The  sunny  beach  was  con- 
trasted with  the  storm -tossed  sea;  the  stately  ship, 
all  sails  and  colors,  with  the  lonely  wreck  and  its 
despairing  signal;  the  beauty  of  luxury  with  the 
deformity  of  poverty;  the  dark  street  and  unclean 
den  with  the  palace  and  garden. 

She  had  faces  made  terrible  by  crime,  despair, 
sickness,  shame  and  sorrow.  These  to  a  people 
who  made  health  and  strength  a  virtue  were  her 
most  effective  antidote  against  any  allurements  of 
that  larger  life  that  held  such  perils. 

"It  is  worse  than  I  thought,  my  friends,"  she 
said  to  Tacita  and  Dylar.  "Perhaps  the  w^orld 
never  was  any  better ;  but  it  is  worse  than  I  thought. 
It  is  not  so  much  the  wickedness  of  the  smaller 
number,  but  the  carelessness  of  the  majority.  No- 
thing but  a  calamity  stirs  them  up.  Nothing  but 
a  danger  to  themselves  sets  them  thinking  of  oth- 
ers. The  prosperous  seem  really  to  believe  that 
prosperity  is  a  virtue  and  misfortune  a  vice.  Oh, 
if  they  only  knew  the  delight  of  helping  the  needy, 
and  helping  in  the  right  w^ay,  not  thinking  that  by 
a  gift  you  can  buy  any  person's  liberty,  or  that 


300  SAN  SALVADOR. 

gratitude  for  any  assistance  whatever  should  bear 
the  strain  of  any  assumption  the  helper  may  be 
guilty  of,  but  giving  outright,  helping  outright, 
and  forgetting  all  about  it.  There  is  no  pleasure 
like  it.  Much  is  said  of  ingratitude:  far  more 
should  be  said  of  the  coarseness  of  fibre  in  those 
who  impose  a  sort  of  slavery  on  the  recipients  of 
their  favors. 

"But,  much  as  I  wonder  at  the  living,  I  wonder 
yet  more  at  the  dying,  or  those  who  are  looking 
forward  to  their  own  death.  There  are  men  and 
women  who  leave  fortunes  to  the  already  rich,  or 
to  institutions  which  are  not  in  need,  or  to  found 
or  endow  libraries  which  bear  their  names,  while 
all  about  them  reigns  an  earthly  hell  of  poverty  to 
which  they  never  give  a  thought. 

"Now  and  then  one  hears  of  something  lovely. 
I  remember  a  man  in  America  who,  dying,  left 
money  to  give  a  house,  an  acre  of  land,  and  a  pen- 
sion sufficient  to  live  on  modestly,  to  a  number  of 
homeless  women,  single  or  widows.  The  only  no- 
tice I  ever  saw  of  that  tender  and  sympathizing 
remembrance  of  the  homeless  called  it  'eccentric' 
Most  people  who  give  wish  to  herd  the  unfortunate 
together,  making  a  solid  and  permanent  exposition 
of  their  benevolence  which  they  can  describe  in  the 
newspapers." 

"What  are  women  doing?"  Tacita  asked. 
"  Some  things  I  saw  gave  me  a  troubled  feeling.  It 
was  so  different  from  our  women  here,  so  noble, 
harmonious  and  restful  as  they  arQ !  " 


SAN  SALVADOR.  301 

"It  is,  perhaps,  inevitable,"  lona  said.  "I  do 
not  like  to  find  fanlt  with  my  sisters  when  they 
strive  to  be  something  better  than  dolls.  Every 
transition  state  is  disagreeable.  I  hope  that,  hav- 
ing made  the  circle,  they  may  come  back  to  a 
higher  plane  of  the  same  hemisphere  they  have  oc- 
cupied in  the  past.  At  present  many  are  ruining 
what  they  propose  to  regenerate.  Boasting  that 
they  will  bring  back  the  lost  Paradise,  they  go  no 
farther  than  Cain,  the  serpent,  and  partial  naked- 
ness. Woman  as  a  law-maker  is  meddlesome  and 
tyrannical.  She  goes  too  much  into  detail.  There 
is  a  pertness  and  shrillness  in  their  way  of  bringing 
in  the  milleimium  which  irritates  my  nerves.  They 
won't  let  you  alone.  They  nag  at  you.  With  some, 
you  cannot  speak  in  their  presence  without  repent- 
ing of  having  opened  your  mouth.  You  deplore 
the  evils  of  society,  and  they  call  you  a  pessimist ; 
you  praise  the  beautiful,  the  sublime,  and  discern  a 
rainbow  somewhere,  and  they  dub  you  optimist; 
you  venture  to  touch  on  some  half  possibility  of 
intimations  reaching  the  living  from  the  dead,  and 
they  pin  '  Spiritist '  on  your  shawl ;  you  surmise 
that  we  cannot  be  sure  that  we  are  to  live  only  one 
life  upon  the  earth,  and  they  discover  that  you  are 
are  a  Theosophist,  and  make  remarks  about  your 
Karma.  They  have  a  mania  brought  from  their 
jam  -  pots  for  labeling  things.  It  is  a  relief  to 
turn  from  them  and  talk  with  a  sensible  man  whose 
ideas  are  more  in  the  affresco  style,  and  do  not 
scratch. 


302  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"And  then,  on  some  liappy  clay  you  meet  a 
woman,  t/ie  woman,  noble,  judicial,  kind,  cour- 
ageous, modest  and  sympathizing,  and  you  fall  at 
her  feet." 

"I  think  that  something  ideal  may  result  from 
this  uprising  of  women,"  said  Dylar.  ''It  is  crude 
now,  as  you  say.  But  when  they  shall  have  shown 
what  they  can  do,  they  will  voluntarily  return,  the 
mothers  among  them,  to  their  quiet  homes,  and  say 
toman,  'As  we  were  before,  we  could  not  help  mak- 
ing many  of  you  worthless.  Now  we  are  going  to 
make  a  race  of  noble  men.  We  will  rule  the  state 
through  the  cradle." 

"Like  our  Tacita,"  said  lona  with  a  smile. 
"Elena  always  said  that  she  was  fit  to  rule  a 
state." 

"Dear  Elena!  "  said  Dylar's  wife.  "I  am  so 
impatient  to  see  her.  It  will  be  delightful  to  have 
you, both  here  together,  if  but  for  a  day." 

For  Elena  was  on  her  way  to  San  Salvador, 
and  near;  and  they  meant  to  keep  her.  She  had 
had  enough  of  travel  and  unassisted  labor;  and 
she  was  needed  at  home. 

"Do  you  see  how  our  little  palm-trees  grow ? " 
Tacita  asked.  "We  are  going  to  have  them  set 
in  the  green  of  the  Basilica,  after  all.  They  will 
be  ready  in  the  autumn." 

lona  looked  at  the  young  trees  thoughtfully. 

"I  would  like  to  earn  a  leaf,"  she  said. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

While  they  were  speaking,  three  visitors  whom 
they  did  not  expect  were  approaching  San  Salva- 
dor. 

A  German,  a  Frenchman,  and  an  Italian,  who  had 
known  each  other  many  years,  meeting  occasion- 
ally in  the  society  of  different  European  capitals, 
had  met  in  Paris  that  spring,  and  weary  of  a  round 
of  pleasures  which  led  to  nothing  but  weariness, 
had  started  off  on  a  long  rambling  journey. 

They  made  no  plans  except  to  go  to  places  they 
had  heard  but  little  of,  and  to  be  ready  to  stop  at 
a  moment's  notice. 

It  was  the  German  who  had  discovered  that  their 
pleasures  led  to  weariness  alone;  but  his  friends 
readily  agreed  with  him. 

"I  am  inclined  to  think,"  said  the  Italian,  "that 
the  only  refuge  of  civilization  is  in  barbarism." 

"Or  in  a  truer  civilization,"  said  the  German. 

"Or  in  a  more  robust  physical  health,"  said  the 
Frenchman.  "So  many  of  our  moral  impressions 
proceed  from  the  stomach,  or  the  nerves." 

Though  the  German  had  given  expression  to  the 
unrest  of  his  companions,  he  was  indebted,  and  per- 
fectly aware  that  he  was  indebted  to  another  for 
his  own  awakening.     It  was  but  a  word   uttered 


304  SAN  SALVADOR. 

by  a  stranger  wliom  he  had  met  in  travelling 
through  the  Alps ;  yet  the  word  had  often  recurred 
to  his  mind.  How  many  times  when  contemplat- 
ing some  act,  not  dishonorable,  indeed,  yet  worldly, 
as  he  had  studied  and  doubted,  a  lowly  murmured 
word  had  stolen  up  in  his  memory:   "^/?oif  " 

In  preparing  for  some  reception  or  fete  like  a 
hundred  others,  in  returning  from  some  dissipation, 
in  looking  forward  in  his  career  and  planning  out 
his  future  life,  with  what  a  solemn  impressiveness 
the  quiet  interrogation  had  been  heard  in  the  first 
pause  of  excitement :   ''''  E  poif'' 

Their  holiday  was  almost  ended  for  the  three 
friends,  and  they  were  now  on  their  homeward  way, 
the  line  of  their  travels  forming  a  long  loop,  now  a 
little  past  the  turn.  The  Italian  had  a  young  wife 
who  might  be  pouting  at  his  absence;  the  French- 
man was  a  banker,  and  his  partners  were  getting 
impatient;  the  German  was  an  official  on  leave, 
and  his  term  was  nearly  out. 

Yet  when  their  train  drew  up  for  a  few  minutes 
at  the  lonely  station  of  the  Olives,  and  the  French- 
man, usually  the  leader  in  all  their  enterprises, 
exclaimed,  "Once  more,  my  friends  !  I  am  sure 
that  no  one  ever  stopped  here  before,"  the  other 
two  hailed  the  proposal,  and  snatching  their  va- 
lises, they  stepped  from  the  carriage  just  as  the 
train  was  about  to  start. 

The  Italian,  one  of  whose  nicknames  was  Mezzo- 
fanti,  or  Tuttofanti,  was  always  spokesman  when 
they  were  likely  to  encounter  a  patois;  but  some- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  305 

what  to  their  surprise,  this  simj^le -seeming  station- 
master  spoke  both  French  and  English  passably. 

There  was  an  orange-farm  twenty  miles  north- 
ward, he  said,  but  no  means  of  reaching  it  at  that 
time.  Fifteen  miles  southward  was  a  castle,  and  a 
hamlet  called  the  Olives.  The  man  with  the  don- 
key-cart just  leaving  the  station  was  going  there. 
A  castle !     It  sounded  well. 

Mezzofanti  called  the  man  and  entered  into  nego- 
tiations with  him;  and  he,  after  looking  the  trav- 
elers over  with  a  somewhat  critical  expression,  con- 
sented to  take  them  to  the  Olives  on  condition  that 
they  would  take  turns  walking  each  a  part  of  the 
way.  He  himself  would  walk  half  the  distance. 
His  donkey  would  not  be  able  to  carry  them  all. 

He  further  told  them  that  they  could  not  stop  at 
the  castle,  the  master  being  absent;  but  they  coidd 
stop  at  his  house,  and  could  have  donkeys  to  return 
to  the  station  the  next  day.  They  would  want  a 
number  of  donkeys  there,  as  they  were  expecting 
supplies.  He  could  give  them  three  good  ones,  so 
that  they  could  ride  all  the  way. 

There  was  a  certain  calm  dignity  about  this 
man,  though  his  dress  was  that  of  a  laborer,  and  his 
French  imperfect,  which  won  their  confidence ;  and 
they  accepted  his  offer.  He  had  learned  French, 
he  said,  from  his  mother,  who  came  to  the  Olives 
from  France  before  he  was  born.  He  was  called 
Pierre  at  home.  It  was  the  name  his  mother  aave 
him. 

The  first  j)art  of  their  road  was  over  an  arid 


306  SAN  SALVADOR. 

plain,  dull  thin  grass  and  a  few  parched  shrubs 
spotting  the  sandy  soil ;  but  in  the  distance  was  a 
mass  of  rich  dark-green  foliage  with  keen  moun- 
tains, black  and  white,  rising  into  the  splendid 
blue  above  them. 

The  German  remembered  one  who  had  said: 
"I  am  a  daughter  of  the  mountains."  He  never 
saw  one  of  those  masses  of  rock  and  snow  rising 
into  the  air  without  wondering  if  it  might  not  be 
there  she  drew  her  first  breath. 

The  man,  Pierre,  did  not  know  the  names  of  the 
mountains.  Some  of  them  had  their  own  names. 
That  highest  peak  at  the  left  was  called  the  White 
Lady,  and  was  beyond  the  castle.  The  castle  was 
very  ancient,  and  one  part  in  ruins.  There  were 
many  stories  about  it.  His  mother  knew  them. 
For  liim,  he  was  content  with  the  present.  The 
past  interested  him  but  little.  The  castle  was  set 
on  a  spur  of  the  mountains,  and  quite  close  to  them. 
The  inner  wall  of  the  court  was  a  cliff.  Their 
road  would  lead  them  ten  miles  straight  to  the 
mountains ;  then  they  turned  southward,  and  after 
five  miles  would  reach  the  Olives,  which  was  south 
of  the  heights  and  just  round  a  turn.  At  the 
first  turn  was  a  fountain  where  they  could  water 
the  donkey,  and  rest  a  little  while,  if  they  liked. 
There  was  an  old  ruined  house  there  where  they 
usually  stopped,  going  to  and  from  the  station. 

"Did  the  prince  live  much  at  the  castle?"  one 
of  the  gentlemen  asked. 

"No;  he  came  occasionally.     He  lived  abroad, 


SAN  SALVADOR.  307 

now  here,  now  there.     He  had  spent  a  fortnight  the 
year  before  at  Castle  Dylar  with  his  bride." 

"Oh,  there  is  a  bride!"  said  the  Frenchman. 
"What  is  she  like?" 

The  man  had  spoken  in  a  serious  and  matter-of- 
fact  way ;  but  at  the  question  a  smile  flitted  over 
his  face. 

"  She  is  tall  and  slender,  and  white  and  golden- 
haired,"  he  said.  "She  is  very  silent;  but  when 
she  smiles,  you  think  that  she  has  spoken." 

The  Italian  changed  color.  "Do  you  know  her 
name —  her  maiden  name?  "  he  asked. 

"We  call  her  Lady,  or  Princess,"  the  man  said. 
"I  know  no  other  name." 

"  Where  is  she  from?  " 

"Oh,  far  away!  "he  replied  with  a  vague  ges- 
ture. 

The  Italian  asked  no  more ;  but  his  face  betrayed 
excitement. 

Their  road  had  begun  to  rise  and  to  be  over- 
shadowed by  trees.  After  a  while  they  reached 
the  ruined  house  built  up  against  the  rock,  and 
they  alighted  to  rest,  or  look  about  them. 

The  German  exclaimed :  "  Did  you  ever  see  such 
a  green  atmosphere  !  I  do  not  think  that  you  will 
find  such  a  pine-steeped  dimness  even  in  your  Italy, 
Loredan." 

Beside  the  house  a  small  stream  of  water  from 
the  heights  dropped  into  a  trough.  Dropping,  it 
twisted  itself  into  a  rope.  Overflowing  the  trough, 
it  rippled  along  beside  the  road  they  were  to  follow. 


308  SAN  SALVADOB. 

Pierre  drank,  washed  his  face  and  hands,  and 
watered  his  donkey.  The  three  travelers  went  to 
look  at  the  house.  Everything  betokened  deser- 
tion and  ruin.  The  door  and  shutter  hung  half  off 
their  hinges,  and  only  an  upper  shutter  was  closed. 
A  stone  stair  went  up  from  the  one  room  below ;  but 
a  heap  of  brushwood  on  it  barred  the  passage. 

They  pursued  their  way;  and  as  they  went,  the 
scene  softened.  A  narrow  space  of  rising  grassy 
land,  planted  with  olive-trees,  interposed  between 
them  and  the  rocks,  which  only  here  and  there 
thrust  out  a  rude  sentinel;  and  their  road,  having 
risen  gradually  to  the  house  in  the  pines,  began  to 
descend  as  gradually.  The  afternoon  sun  had 
been  excluded ;  but  now  it  shone  across  their  way. 
Olive-trees  quite  replaced  the  pines,  and  allowed 
glimpses  of  an  illuminated  landscape  to  be  seen  be- 
tween their  crisped-up  leaves.  They  rounded  a  curve 
and  entered  the  village.  At  their  right,  under 
thick  olives  that  hid  all  above  them,  grassy  terraces 
rose  to  the  castle ;  at  their  left  were  the  farms  with 
great  white  houses  sunk  in  luxuriant  vegetation. 

The  travelers  were  enchanted.  It  was  a  pic- 
ture !     It  was  a  paradise ! 

Pierre  conducted  them  to  his  house,  and  the 
whole  family  came  out  to  welcome  them  with  a 
rustic  frankness  and  an  urban  courtesy.  There 
was  the  mother  of  their  host,  a  woman  of  eighty, 
his  wife,  two  tall  boys,  a  girl  and  a  baby.  From 
the  roof  terrace  another  girl  parted  the  long  palm- 
leaves  to  peep  down  at  them. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  309 

Entering  the  wide  door  was  like  entering  a 
cliurch.  The  only  partition  of  the  whole  ground- 
floor  was  made  by  square  pillars  of  whitewashed 
masonry  which  supported  the  floor  above  on  a  suc- 
cession of  arches.  But  the  pillars  were  so  large 
that  they  gave  an  effect  of  different  rooms.  Over 
some  of  the  arches  curtains  were  looped  to  be  used 
when  greater  privacy  was  desired. 

One  corner  next  the  door  seemed  designed  for  a 
parlor.  Far  to  the  right  in  another  direction  could 
be  discerned  a  hand-loom  and  spinning-wheel,  and 
a  stone  stair.  Far  to  the  left  was  a  kitchen  where 
something  was  being  cooked  at  an  open  fire,  and 
nearer,  between  the  white  arches,  a  table  set  for 
supper. 

Pierre  led  his  visitors  up  the  nave  of  this  strange 
house,  and  up  the  stair  to  their  chambers.  They 
were  whitewashed  rooms  with  green  doors  and 
small  casement  windows,  over  which  hung  full 
white  linen  curtains.  Green  wooden  shutters 
were  opened  outside.  There  were  no  carpets, 
only  straw-mats ;  yet  there  was  no  sign  of  poverty. 
The  simplicity  was  artistic. 

One  of  the  boys  went  up  with  them  to  the  castle. 
The  sun  was  low,  and  sent  long  lines  of  orange 
light  across  the  greensward  under  the  trees.  Three 
flights  of  stone  steps  led  them  to  the  lower  hall, 
where  they  waited  till  their  giiide  obtained  for 
them  the  readily  accorded  permission  to  see  the 
castle. 

"There  is  very  little  to  see,"  the  housekeeper 


310  SAN 'SALVADOR. 

said.  "But  what  there  is  I  will  show  you  with 
pleasure." 

They  questioned  her  as  they  went  from  room  to 
room,  and  by  secret  passages  to  the  upper  terrace. 
Was  there  any  pass  through  the  mountains?  Her 
replies  made  them  wonder  that  so  intelligent  a 
woman  should  feel  so  little  interest  in  her  immedi- 
ate neighborhood. 

She  knew  of  no  pass  except  one  far  to  the  north- 
ward; but  as  the  mountains  were  a  group  and  not 
a  chain,  it  did  not  matter.  Climbing  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  castle  had  proved  so  dangerous  that  the 
prince  had  forbidden  it. 

The  Italian  spoke  of  the  prince  and  princess,  but 
learned  no  more  than  he  already  knew,  though  the 
housekeeper  showed  no  unwillingness  to  enlighten 
him.  She  was  enthusiastic  in  her  admiration  for 
the  princess,  but  did  not  hear  him  ask  what  the 
lady's  maiden  name  was,  — did  not  or  would  not. 

Before  going  away,  the  three  gentlemen  laid 
their  cards  on  the  drawing-room  table ;  and  when 
they  were  gone,  the  housekeeper  looked  at  them. 
She  read:   — 

Doji  CJavdio  Loredan^    Venice. 

Vicomte  Fran(^ois  de  Coureelles.,  Pams, 

Herr  Ludioig  voji  Hitter,  Berlin. 

"These  must  be  sent  in  early  to-morrow  morn- 
ing," she  said.  "  A  gentleman  from  Venice !  Per- 
haps he  may  have  known  the  princess." 

After  supper  the  travelers  went  out  to  smoke 
their  cigarettes  under  the  palm-tree,  and  the  old 


SAN  SALVADOR.  311 

woman,  knitting-work  in  liand,  followed  them.  She 
evidently  expected  their  request  that  she  would  tell 
them  something  of  the  history  of  the  castle,  and 
complied  with  it  with  the  eagerness  of  a  professional 
story-teller. 

"The  origin  of  Castle  Dylar  is  wrapped  in  mys- 
tery. It  is  believed  that  an  army  of  builders  once 
went  from  land  to  land  building  churches,  castles, 
and  monuments  of  various  sorts.  They  built  for- 
tresses, and  walls  for  cities,  too,  and  had  means 
unknown  to  us  of  moving  great  stones  and  fitting 
them  cunningly  together.  It  is  believed  that  Cas- 
tle Dylar  was  built  by  them. 

"  As  for  its  owner,  we  will  say  no  evil  of  the  dead. 
His  few  poor  tenants  lived  in  huts,  and  knew  not 
how  to  cultivate  the  land.  They  raised  a  little, 
which  they  and  their  beasts  shared ;  and  when  their 
provisions  failed,  they  killed  and  ate  the  beasts, 
being  the  stronger  and  more  intelligent.  When 
the  owner  —  I  know  not  his  name  —  when  he  came 
here  fi-om  time  to  time,  often  with  a  number  of 
companions,  they  fared  better.  But,  from  father 
to  son,  the  master  came  less  and  less,  till  one  was 
left  who  came  not  at  all,  but  sold  the  castle  and 
land  to  a  Dylar. 

"Oh,  then  were  the  people  cared  for!  Then 
were  they  lifted  out  of  their  misery!  Then  did 
the  land  bloom !  The  first  tree  planted  by  Dylar 
was  an  olive-tree.  'I  dedicate  the  land  to  peace  and 
light, '  he  said ;  and,  gentlemen,  peace  and  light  have 
dwelt  in  it  to  this  day.     The  stupid  children  of  the 


312  SAN  SALVADOR. 

tenantry  were  taught.  Men  came  and  built  these 
houses  to  last  a  thousand  years,  and  then  another 
thousand.  They  dug  a  hole  to  let  the  river  through 
the  mountains.  They  cultivated  land.  Men  did 
great  works,  and  went  away  when  they  were  paid ; 
but  other  men  and  women  came  in,  one  by  one  and 
two  by  two,  and  dwelt  here.  They  were  children 
of  sorrow  chosen  out  of  the  world  to  come  here  and 
live  in  peace.  We  have  all  that  we  want,  and  we 
know  not  drouth.  The  sun  and  the  snow -peaks  fill 
our  cups  to  overflowing.  When  the  land  grows 
dry,  our  men  set  donkeys  to  turning  the  great  wheel 
you  see  yonder,  with  a  bucket  at  every  spoke ;  and 
they  fill  a  tank  that  sends  out  little  rivulets  run- 
ning over  all  the  land.  They  go  to  every  plant 
and  tree,  like  mothers  giving  drink  to  their  chil- 
dren. We  know  not  drouth;  and  Christ  is  our 
King. 

"There  have  been  nine  Dylars  with  the  present 
one.  Each  Dylar  uses  his  number  to  his  name,  or 
sometimes  alone.  If  a  written  order  had  the  figure 
nine  alone,  or  nine  straight  lines  signed  to  it,  that 
order  would  be  obeyed.  We  put  it  on  all  things 
for  them,  too.  When  our  prince  was  here  last 
year  with  his  bride,  we  sent  everything  up  in  nines, 
nine  jars  of  olives,  nine  boxes  of  oil;  and  the  child 
who  could  find  a  bunch  of  nine  cherries,  or  a  sprig 
of  nine  strawberries  to  send  up  to  the  princess' 
table  was  a  happy  child.  We  sent  her  a  box  of 
olive-wood  to  put  her  laces  in.  It  was  fluted  in 
groups  of  nine  all  round,  and  had  nine  lilies  on  the 


SAN  SALVADOR.  313 

cover,  and  a  border  made  of  the  figure  interlaced 
and  flowering  out.  And  in  the  centre  of  the  cover 
were  the  initials  J.  C,  with  a  crown  above  them; 
for  Christ  is  King  of  us  all.  I  found  on  the  jas- 
mine-tree on  our  terrace  a  flower  with  nine  petals, 
which  was  a  wonder ;  for  they  have  usually  only  five 
or  six,  sometimes  only  four.  The  princess  pressed 
the  flower  to  keep,  and  said  it  was  the  prince's 
flower. 

"The  Dylar  made  it  a  virtue  for  their  people  to 
be  healthy  and  clean  and  cheerful.  They  gave 
them  games  and  pleasures  as  well  as  labor.  And 
whenever  they  find  a  young  man,  or  a  girl  who  has 
a  gift  for  some  airy  kind  of  work  that  needs  a  nicer 
study,  they  send  them  out  to  learn.  They  seldom 
come  back  to  stay ;  but  they  come,  sooner  or  later, 
to  see  their  old  home  before  they  die. 

"For  us,  we  do  many  things.  We  spin  thread 
of  linen  and  silk,  we  weave  and  embroider  and 
make  laces.  We  make  wine  and  preserve  olives 
and  make  oil.  We  knit  hose  that  a  queen  has 
worn,  and  would  have  more.  For  we  have  a  silk 
farm,  and  a  silk  that  reels  off  like  sunshine.  And 
Christ  is  our  King." 

"Who  governs  you?  "  asked  the  vicomte.  "Of 
course  your  prince,  and  the  housekeeper  told  us, 
three  of  your  oldest  men.  But  is  there  nothing 
else?" 

"Oh,  now  and  again,  some  people  come  from  far 
away,  and  ask  some  questions,  and  get  some  taxes, 
they  call  them.     They  have  need  of  money,  those 


314  SAN  SALVADOR. 

who  send.  I  know  not.  They  come  and  they  go. 
We  welcome  them,  and  we  bid  them  godspeed." 

"But  if  two  of  you  should  disagree?" 

"Then  each  tells  his  story  to  the  Three,  and  they 
decide.  And  if  they  cannot  decide,  they  write  to 
Dylar,  whose  messenger  comes." 

"But  if  some  one  accuse  you,  have  you  no  one 
to  see  that  no  damaging  truth,  or  no  lie,  is  proven 
against  you?     Have  you  no  one  to  speak  for  you  ?  " 

"Why  should  another  tell  my  story  for  me? 
And  is  it  not  the  truth  which  all  wish  to  have 
proven?  Are  we  children?  or  bees?  See,  now: 
if  I  prove  a  lie  to-day,  and  gain  a  pound  of  silk  by 
it,  or  a  gallon  of  oil  like  honey  distilled,  then  the 
spirits  of  peace  in  the  air  about  me  are  disgusted 
with  the  evil  scent  of  my  vice,  and  they  fly  away, 
and  evil  spirits,  who  love  an  evil  deed,  come  near; 
and  of  three  pounds  of  silk  they  weave  a  chain  that 
binds  my  thoughts  all  down  to  that  sin  I  have  com- 
mitted, or  of  three  gallons  of  bad  oil  they  kindle 
a  lamp  in  my  heart  that  burns :  and  the  only  way 
to  have  peace  is  to  go  to  him  I  have  robbed,  and 
say:  'I  lied;  and  here  are  three  pounds  of  silk  for 
the  one:'  or,  *I  lied;  and  here  are  three  gallons  of 
pure  oil  for  one. '  Moreover,  the  King,  when  I  do 
evil,  is  no  longer  my  king ;  but  the  Dark  One  rules 
over  me.  What  have  I  gained,  though  the  silk  or 
the  oil  were  like  Basil's  gold?" 

"Who  is  Basil?"  asked  the  German,  smiling. 
"And  what  was  Basil's  gold?" 

"Basil  was  a  Dylar,  one  of  the  first.     It  is  said 


SAN  SALVADOR.  315 

tljat  lie  was  as  wise  as  Solomon,  and  could  under- 
stand the  language  of  all  growing  things ;  that  he 
knew  what  the  curl  of  a  leaf  meant,  or  the  sob  of 
the  wind.  He  came  and  went.  There  are  wild 
stories,  that  he  was  borne  over  chasms.  I  know 
not.  But  he  gave  his  people  a  message  from  the 
earth  that  he  read  in  a  grain  of  virgin  gold." 

The  German  was  shaken  by  a  strong  tremor. 
"The  message  !      The  message!  "  he  exclaimed. 

The  old  woman  smiled  at  his  eagerness.  "Lis- 
ten I  "  she  said.  "  'Dig  for  your  gold,  my  children, 
sa3^s  Earth,  your  Mother.  Deep  in  your  hearts  it 
lies  hidden.'  " 

"Is  there  any  other  settlement  near  of  the 
Dylar?"  the  German  asked  impetuously. 

"None,  sir." 

"One  has  gone  forth  into  the  world  from  this 
place,  a  woman,  tall,  dark-eyed,  with  black  hair 
heavy  about  the  brows,  and  a  soft  voice.  She  is  a 
lady.      Who  is  she?     Where  is  she?" 

"I  knov/  no  such.  There  is  one  abroad  who 
sings.  She  is  famous,  and  she  returns  no  more. 
I  do  not  know  where  she  is,  nor  what  name  she 
sings  by.  There  are  others  who  are  married. 
There  are  two  young  girls  who  study.  I  know  no 
such  lady.  It  might  be  one  of  Dylar 's  messengers; 
but  she  is  away." 

"Could  I  learn  at  the  castle?" 

"Ah,  no!  we  do  not  keep  their  track.  They 
come  and  they  go.  There  was  one  who  came  last 
year.      She  was  something  like  your    lady.     She 


316  SAN  SALVADOR. 

stayed  a  week;  and  she  reaped  a  field  of  wheat. 
She  is  strong  to  work  in  the  fiekls." 

The  German  sighed,  and  said  no  more. 

"The  present  Dylar  is  young,  is  he  not?"  asked 
the  Italian. 

"  Oh,  yes ;  but  little  over  thirty.  But  he  is  very 
serious.  His  father  was  gay  till  he  lost  his  wife. 
Then  he  never  smiled  again.  But  when  our  Dylar 
came  here  with  his  bride  last  year  he  was  different. 
His  eyes  followed  her  everywhere." 

"What  did  he  call  her?"  asked  the  Italian. 

"He  called  her  Love;  nought  else.  We  called 
her  princess.  How  fair  she  was !  If  you  should 
tell  her  a  story,  when  you  had  ended,  it  would  seem 
to  you  that  she  had  been  the  one  who  talked,  and 
not  you.  She  has  changes  of  expression,  and  little 
movements,  so  that  she  seems  to  have  spoken  when 
she  has  not  uttered  a  word.  At  the  castle  they 
saved  all  the  hairs  that  were  in  her  combs  and 
brushes,  and  I  have  a  little  lock  of  them  that  coils 
round  so  soft  and  shining!  " 

When  they  went  in,  the  Italian  lingered  behind 
his  companions,  and  detained  the  old  woman. 
"Show  me  the  lock  of  hair  you  told  us  of,"  he  said. 

She  brought  it  with  pleasure,  and  carefully  un- 
folding a  paper  by  the  light  of  a  lamp  hung  against 
one  of  the  pillars  just  inside  the  door,  showed  a 
glossy  golden  ring,  and  lifting  it,  let  it  drop  in  a 
long  coil. 

"I  will  give  you  a  gold  piece  for  one  hair!  "  said 
Don  Claudio. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  317 

''I  do  not  want  the  gold,"  she  said;  "but  you 
shall  have  the  hair."  She  drew  out  two  or  three 
of  the  shining  threads  and  gave  them  to  him ;  and 
he  laid  them  inside  a  clasped  fold  of  his  pocket- 
book. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

Pierre  was  to  go  to  the  station  the  next  morn- 
ing to  meet  Elena;  and  in  consultation  with  his 
advisers  it  was  decided  that  he  should  set  out  early 
and  alone.  He  could  then  warn  her  of  the  pres- 
ence of  these  strangers.  A  considerable  quantity 
of  provisions  would  come  by  the  same  train ;  but 
as  a  part  of  them  were  to  be  left  at  the  Pines,  they 
would  be  brought  later  in  the  day. 

The  strangers  could  therefore  go  at  any  hour 
they  might  clioose,  needing  no  guide,  and  leave  the 
donkeys  at  the  station. 

The  gentlemen  set  out  as  soon  as  they  had  eaten 
their  breakfast,  and  half  way  to  the  Pines  met 
Pierre  coming  back  on  foot. 

He  had  been  taken  sick  on  the  way,  he  said,  and 
a  friend  whom  he  had  fortunately  encountered 
would  go  to  the  station  for  him.  It  was  a  sickness 
he  sometimes  had,  and  it  would  last  him  several 
days.  He  declined  their  oifer  to  return  with  him; 
and  they  took  leave  of  each  other,  and  went  on 
their  separate  ways.  But  Pierre  had  not  gone 
many  steps  farther  before  doubts  began  to  assail 
him. 

'^I  might  have  waited  there  till  these  men  had 
gone  by,"  he  thought. 


SAN  SALVADOE.  319 

He  turned  the  situation  over  in  his  mind. 
Alexander  and  his  wife  were  the  guardians  of 
the  week.  There  was  no  woman  in  San  Salvador 
better  able  to  take  care  of  the  house  than  Alexan- 
der's wife.  She  knew  every  signal,  was  prom23t 
and  courageous.  Above  all,  she  would  do  exactly 
as  she  was  ordered  to  do  if  the  skies  should  fall  on 
her  for  it.  And  both  he  and  her  husband  had 
charged  her  not  to  leave  her  signal-post  a  minute, 
and  to  give  instant  notice  to  San  Salvador  of  any- 
thing that  might  happen. 

"I  wish  I  had  asked  if  the  door  was  unbarred," 
he  thought  uneasily.  It  occurred  to  him  that  the 
men  inside  would  have  left  San  Salvador  early  in 
the  morning,  before  it  was  known  that  these  stran- 
gers were  at  the  Olives.  Alexander  and  his  wife 
had  not  known  it  till  he  told  them  that  morning. 
When  he  passed  the  evening  before,  stoj^ping  pur- 
posely that  they  might  observe  well  his  compan- 
ions, they  had  been  occupied  in  receiving  orders 
from  San  Salvador,  and  had  not  known  that  he 
was  not  alone. 

He  grew  more  uneasy  every  moment. 
"Of  course  they  would  n't  unbar  the  door  till  it 
was  needed,"  he  muttered.     "And  of  course  Alex- 
ander spoke   to  them   before   he   started.     But  I 
might  have  waited." 

In  fact,  Alexander  had  called  to  the  njen;  but 
they  were  out  of  sight  and  hearing.  They  had  re- 
tired to  a  more  convenient  place  to  wait,  knowing 
that  they  would  not  be  needed  for  several  hours. 


320  SAN  SALVADOB. 

"I  wish  that  I  had  waited !  "  Pierre  repeated  over 
and  over.      "I  could  have  waited." 

He  recollected  stories  of  men  who  had  been  faith- 
ful even  to  death  to  interests  committed  to  their 
charge;  and  when  had  greater  interests  been  at 
stake  than  this  of  the  secret  of  San  Salvador ! 

Texts  of  gold  wrote  themselves  in  the  air  all  about 
him,  and  on  the  dark  earth  under  his  feet. 

"^e  that  endureth  to  the  end  shall  he  saved.'''' 

"  Well  done^  good  and  faithful  servant, ^^ 

"  Watch  and  lyray.'''' 

The  guardianship  of  the  house  in  the  Pines  was 
in  the  hands  of  a  hundred  men,  each  of  whom 
served  a  week  at  a  time,  with  any  one  whom  he 
might  choose  as  a  companion.  Dylar  himself  took 
his  turn.  The  rules  were  strict.  Pierre  remem- 
bered them  when  it  was  too  late. 

When  the  three  travelers  reached  the  house, 
therefore,  there  was  a  woman  alone  on  guard,  with 
strict  orders  to  signal  everything,  but  on  no  ac- 
count to  allow  herself  to  be  seen  nor  lieard;  and 
the  hidden  door  was  unbarred,  and  the  torrent  that 
shut  the  road  to  San  Salvador  was  turned  away. 

They  alighted  and  tied  their  donkeys  to  a  post, 
where  they  could  drink  or  browse  at  will. 

"My  opinion,"  said  the  viscomte,  "is  that  this 
old  building  was  not  always  so  innocent  as  it  prob- 
ably is  jiiow.  It  was  perhaps  a  hiding-place  for 
plunder  or  prisoners,  used  by  the  wicked  old  family 
which  preceded  the  Dylar s  at  the  castle." 

They  hung  their  basket  of  luncheon  to  a  pine- 


SAN  SALVADOR.  3'21 

branch,  set  their  bottle  of  wine  in  the  running  water, 
and  looked  about  them.  To  men  accustomed  to 
the  luxuries  of  civilization,  and  for  a  time,  at  least, 
weary  of  them,  there  was  something  delightful  in 
this  superb  solitude  of  rock  and  tree,  this  silence 
stirred  only  by  the  sweetest  and  most  delicate 
sounds  of  nature.  It  seemed  but  a  day  since  a 
pushing  crowd  had  surrounded  them,  the  paving- 
stones  of  a  city  had  been  beneath  their  feet,  and 
the  Gleipnir  cord  of  social  etiquette  had  bound 
them;  and  to-morrow  again  all  that  world  would 
possess  them,  and  this  scene  become  as  a  fairy 
dream  in  their  memories. 

They  wandered  about  a  while  under  the  trees, 
explored  a  few  rods  of  the  northward  road,  and 
came  back  to  eat  their  luncheon,  sitting  on  the  moss 
and  pine-needles. 

The  Frenchman  looked  up  at  the  beetling  rock 
that  overtopped  the  house  before  them.  "I  have 
a  vision,"  he  said.  "I  am  clairvoyant.  I  see 
through  the  rock  yonder  into  a  long  succession  of 
low  caves  where  you  must  walk  stooping.  At  the 
entrance  of  these  caves  sits  'ime  blanche  aux  yeux 
noirs, '  and  all  the  floor  is  strewn  with  ingots  of  pure 
gold.  As  you  look  along  the  windings  for  miles, 
that  gold  lights  the  place  up  like  a  fire." 

"I  also  am  clairvoyant,"  said  the  Italian.  "I 
see  beyond  those  mountains  a  happy  country  where 
ambition  never  thwarts  true  love,  and  partings  are 
unknown.     It  is  the  promised  land  of  the  heart." 

"I  see  farther  yet,"  said  the   German.     "Be- 


322  SAN  SALVADOR. 

neatli  that  cliff  is  your  El  Dorado.  Beside  it  is 
your  Love's  paradise.  But  farther  yet,  hemmed  in 
by  precipices,  is  a  great  black  castle  of  which  Cas- 
tle Dylar  is  but  an  offshoot.  There  dwells  a  prin- 
cess held  in  bonds  by  a  fierce  giant.  He  wishes  to 
marry  her,  would  give  her  all  the  gold  you  see,  and 
make  her  queen  over  your  paradise ;  and  she  will 
not.  If  I  could  pass  this  wall,  if  I  coidd  thread 
the  labyrinth  of  gorges  leading  to  that  castle,  I 
should  find  her  there,  dark  and  splendid  and  stately. 
She  is  as  free  and  fierce  as  an  Arab.  She  is  as 
tender  as  a  do\e.  She  looks  like  a  goddess.  Her 
name  is  —  is  —  lo." 

They  ate  their  luncheon  in  the  green  fragrant 
shadows.  The  viscomte  went  into  the  house  while 
the  other  two  smoked  their  cigarettes,  dreaming 
with  half -closed  eyes,  till  they  were  startled  by  an 
excited  call  from  the  house :  "  Come  here !  Come !  " 

They  hastened  to  obey. 

"I  have  found  a  secret  door  I "  said  the  French- 
man's voice  from  under  the  stair.  "It  is  surely  a 
door !  The  wall  moves.  See  I  it  retreats  an  inch 
or  two  without  displacing  a  stone.  Let  us  get 
sticks  and  pry  it  open.  We  are  on  the  eve  of  a 
discovery!  " 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Meantime,  San  Salvador,  unconscious  of  dan- 
ger, was  all  joyful  expectation.  The  coming  home 
of  Elena  was  always  a  holiday  for  them. 

True,  lona  was  to  go  out  again  the  next  day ; 
but  lona  had  never  taken  the  hold  on  their  familiar 
life  that  Elena  had  always  maintained.  Besides, 
they  had  this  pleasure  connected  with  her  going, 
that  she  would  take  messages  to  their  friends. 
Many  were  busy  preparing  letters  and  little  gifts. 

Dylar  was  busiest  of  all.  He  had  gone  up  to 
his  cottage,  which  might  still  be  called  his  study,  to 
prepare  letters  of  direction,  and  plans  which  would 
be  supplemented  by  lona's  word. 

In  the  little  terrace  of  their  house  sat  Tacita  and 
lona  with  the  child. 

"Spare  yourself  a  little  for  our  sakes,"  the  prin- 
cess was  saying. 

"Never  fear,  my  princess!"  said  lona  with  a 
smile.  "I  have  a  presentiment  that  I  shall  come 
back  here  at  last  to  die.  It  is  the  only  thing  that 
I  ask  for  myself.  If  I  should  not  be  so  happy,  I 
know  that  you  will  bring  my  body  back.  It  is 
pleasant  to  think  of  lying  asleep  in  our  great  quiet 
dormitory  when  one  can  work  no  longer." 

"The  whole  earth  should  not  hide  you  from  us, 
nor  keep  you  back!  "  was  the  fervent  reply. 


324  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"Inaction,  or  even  moderate  action,  is  impossi- 
ble with  the  vision  that  I  have  of  the  world,"  lona 
went  on.  "You  think  that  you  knov^  it.  Ah, 
you  do  not  know  a  thousandth  part!  You  were 
safe  in  your  family,  guarded  and  protected.  What 
if  you  had  been  poor  and  friendless?  I  tell  you 
that  to  such  human  society  is  sometimes  a  society  of 
wolves  and  tioers.  Nor  is  an  active  and  conscious 
malignity  necessary.  Narrow  sympathies,  self- 
complacent  egotism  and  conventional  slavery  suffice. 
Why,  who  shall  say  that  a  tiger  may  not  rend  a 
man,  or  a  child,  with  an  approving  conscience,  if 
conscience  he  have  I 

"Life  has  become  like  a  cane-brake  duel,  where 
two  men  enter,  each  from  an  opposite  side,  creep- 
ing and  searching  for  each  other  with  the  dagger- 
hand  drawn  back,  and  the  blade  up -pointed  for  the 
stoccata.  Ah  !  Let  us  not  think  of  it.  For  the 
work  needed  to-day,  the  soul  must  not  stop  to 
think,  but  must  march  straight  on  in  the  name  of 
God.  I  will  think  of  my  coming  back  and  of  my 
rest  at  last.  It  is  sweet.  Carry  me  up  at  simrise, 
and  give  me  a  rose  in  my  hand.  I  would  that  I 
could  have  a  palm.  But  a  rose  is  the  flower  of 
love ;  and  whether  it  has  seemed  so,  or  not,  I  have 
loved  so  much  !     I  have  loved  so  much  !  " 

She  bent,  and  softly  kissed  the  sleeping  infant ; 
and  rising  to  go  away,  glanced  back  toward  the 
unseen  cemetery. 

As  she  looked,  a  swift  change  passed  over  her 
face,  a  keen  present  interest  took  the  place  of  her 


SAN  SALVADOR.  325 

forward-looking.  Her  raised  brows  fell  and  were 
drawn  together.  She  was  facing  the  signal  station 
connected  with  the  Pines,  and  it  changed  as  she 
looked.  Already  they  knew  by  signals  from  the 
castle  that  three  strangers  had  passed  the  night  at 
the  Olives,  that  a  messenger  was  coming  in  to  give 
them  details,  that  Pierre  was  on  his  way  to  the  sta- 
tion to  meet  Elena,  and  that  the  strangers  had  also 
gone.  From  the  Pines  they  knew  that  all  was  pre- 
pared for  Elena's  entrance. 

"What  does  this  mean?"  said  lona.  "Can  it 
be  that  Alexander's  wife  is  alone  at  the  Pines! 
Tacita,  will  you  call  Dylar?" 

Tacita  went  to  the  gallery  from  which  she  could 
see  her  husband's  cottage,  and  him  sitting  at 
a  table  covered  with  papers  inside  the  open  door, 
and  she  blew  a  trilling  note  on  a  silver  whistle  she 
carried  in  her  girdle. 

He  looked  up  quickly,  and  came  out.  It  was 
the  first  time  she  had  ever  called  him  down. 

She  waved  her  hand  toward  the  signal-station, 
and  he  understood,  and  turned  that  way.  Another 
signal  had  been  added. 

"Yes,"  said  lona.  "Pierre  has  returned  home, 
and  Alexander  gone  to  the  station,  against  the 
rules.  Pierre  has  sometimes  severe  attacks  of 
sickness,  and  he  feels  them  coming  on.  But  why 
did  not  they  call  one  of  the  men  from  inside,  and 
send  him  to  the  station?" 

She  was  talking  to  herself.  Tacita  glanced  up 
the  hill,   and  saw  Dylar    standing  on  his  terrace 


326  SAN  SALVADOR. 

watching  intently  the  signals.  They  changed 
again.  The  strangers  were  at  the  Pines,  and  the 
men  from  San  Salvador  were  not  there. 

Without  a  word,  lona  hastened  down  and  went 
to  the  Arcade.  Half  way  across  the  town  she 
turned  to  look  again.  The  whole  situation  was  sig- 
naled now.  The  torrent  was  off,  the  door  un- 
barred, the  men  out  of  sight  and  hearing,  and  three 
strangers  were  at  the  Pines. 

"Impossible  !  "  she  exclaimed,  and  began  to  run. 

When  Dylar  reached  his  house  and  read  the  sig- 
nals, which  had  been  hidden  from  him  as  he  came 
down,  he  looked  across  and  saw  lona  coming  out 
on  to  the  mountain -path  above  the  Arcade.  This 
road  ran  for  half  a  mile  along  the  rock  in  sight  of 
the  town.  Then  it  turned  backward  and  out  of 
sight,  joining  the  road  from  the  Pines,  and  that 
lower  one  by  which  Tacita  had  come  to  San  Salva- 
dor. Near  this  junction  of  the  roads  was  the 
water-gate  by  which  the  torrent  was  turned. 

"Impossible !  "  Dylar  also  had  exclaimed  on  read- 
ing the  signals.  To  escape  for  almost  three  hun- 
dred years,  and  fall  to-day!  So  many  accidents 
and  incidents,  so  many  items  of  neglect  coinciding 
to  form  a  crime  and  a  supreme  calamity,  were  in- 
credible! It  was  impossible  that  accident  could 
do  so  much.  A  vision  of  treachery  rose  before  his 
mind. 

Pie  ran  down  to  the  town  where  people  were 
gathering  on  the  house-tops  and  in  the  streets.  He 
called  for  two  of  the  swiftest  runners  and  climbers 


I 


SAN  SALVADOR.  327 

to  follow  lona  to  the  water-gate ;  and  they  sprang 
out  like  greyhounds.  It  was  useless  for  him  to  go. 
There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  turn  the  torrent 
on  again.  He  stood  silent  and  white,  watching 
with  a  stern  face  the  signals,  and  glancing  across 
the  town  to  the  mountain-path  along  which  moved 
lona's  flying  feet. 

The  people  gathered  about  him ;  but  no  one  spoke. 
A  vague  alarm,  mingled  with,  or  alternating  with 
incredulity,  showed  in  every  face. 

The  gate  was  turned  by  a  beam  acting  as  wind- 
lass, and  two  men  were  always  sent  to  turn  it  on 
at  the  Pines.  It  was  less  difficult  than  to  turn  it 
off ;  for  when  the  beam  was  once  started,  and  the 
water  got  a  wedge  in,  it  carried  the  gate  round  of 
itself. 

lona  remembered  this  as  she  fled  along.  She 
had  not  seen  the  men  who  were  sent  to  follow  her. 
They  had  taken  the  inner  road,  which  was  a  little 
shorter. 

From  all  the  road  she  followed  and  from  the 
water-gate,  the  signals  were  visible;  and  running 
breathlessly,  she  yet  kej)t  them  in  view. 

They  changed. 

The  strangers  were  searching  the  house ! 

They  changed.     The  door  was  discovered  ! 

Even  at  that  distance  it  seemed  to  lona  that  she 
heard  a  sharp  outcry  rise  from  the  town  as  that  sig- 
nal slid  out,  the  first  time  that  it  had  ever  been  run 
out  in  San  Salvador. 

Their  secret  was  gone  ! 


328  SAN  SALVADOR. 

But  her  hope  was  not  gone.  In  ten  minutes  she 
would  be  at  the  gate ;  and  it  must  turn  for  her.  To 
have  discovered  the  door  was  not  infallibly  to  oj)en 
it ;  or,  opening  it,  there  must  be  some  delay. 

Moreover,  the  cave  was  prepared  to  detain  the 
strangers  a  few  minutes,  at  least. 

And  then  an  awful  question  presented  itself  to 
her  mind.  Should  she  turn  the  gate  if  the  stran- 
gers were  on  the  bridge?  What  were  the  lives  of 
three  intruders  to  the  existence  of  San  Salvador ! 
An  insinuating  whisper  made  itself  heard  in  her 
heart:  "Run  and  turn  the  gate.  You  need  not 
look  at  the  signal!  " 

It  was  the  voice  of  the  world,  the  voice  of  the 
serpent. 

"J.  raide,  mon  Dieii  I  "  she  panted.  "I  will  do 
no  evil.     If  we  fall,  we  fall !  " 

Was  it  the  heavenly  voice  once  heard,  or  but  an 
echo  of  it  in  her  memory,  which  now  seemed  re- 
peating those  words  of  miracle :  Come  unto  me  — 
the  well  done  that  had  accepted  and  rewarded  her 
plea  for  help  !  Her  fleet  feet  skimmed  the  moun- 
tain-path, her  panting  lungs  drew  in  the  niountain 
air;  but  her  mind  saw  once  more  the  golden  dusk 
of  the  Basilica,  the  rich  molten  coloring  of  the 
walls,  the  words  of  God  sparkling  out  here  and 
there  in  letters  of  gold,  the  Throne  and  the  tiara; 
and  her  soul  felt  the  coming  of  that  Presence  which 
had  filled  the  sacred  cloister.  Half  unconscious 
of  her  body,  she  seemed  to  be  borne  along  by  wings 
set  in  her  fluttering  temples. 


SAN  SALVADOR.  329 

Then  the  path  turned,  and  the  water-gate  was 
before  her.  One  swift  glance  over  her  shoulder 
told  that  the  door  was  not  yet  open. 

lona  ran  to  the  beam,  and  leaning  on  it,  pushed 
with  all  her  strength.  It  did  not  stir.  As  she 
leaned,  she  saw  the  signal-station  on  the  opposite 
mountains.  It  had  not  changed..  The  door  was 
discovered ;  efforts  had  been  made  to  open  it ;  but 
it  was  not  open. 

With  a  frantic  effort  she  pushed.  The  beam 
trembled,  but  did  not  move. 

"j4  Vaide^  man  Roil  "  she  whispered,  and  threw 
her  whole  being  against  the  beam,  while  her  ears 
rang,  and  her  temples  ached  with  the  strain. 

It  started,  moved;  the  water  caught  the  gate, 
lona  was  carried  along,  her  glazing  eyes  fixed  on 
the  signal. 

The  course  of  the  beam  ended  against  a  mossy 
bank.  When  it  stopped,  lona's  failing  form  rested 
as  if  kneeling  on  the  moss,  her  arms  on  the  beam, 
her  cheek  resting  on  the  moss  above  it.  And  over 
her  lips,  and  over  the  wood,  the  moss,  and  the  rock 
flowed  a  stream  of  bright  red  blood. 

Her  head  drooped  slowly,  and  she  fell  asleep  ! 

So  intense  had  been  that  flash  and  strain  of  soul 
out  through  the  flesh,  it  might  be  said  that  the  cry 
she  had  uttered  was  not  more  on  earth  than  in 
heaven,  as  she  sank  and  rose  upon  its  threshold, 
having  earned  her  palm  ! 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

The  whole  town,  gathered  below,  waited  in  an 
awful  silence.  The  shock  of  this  danger  had  come 
upon  them  like  a  day  of  judgment. 

Dylar  stood  apart,  gazing  alternately  at  the  sig- 
nals and  at  lona's  form,  the  blue  flutter  of  her 
garments  like  a  puff  of  smoke  on  the  mountain-side. 

No  one  ventured  to  approach  him. 

There  was  a  struoole  in  his  mind.  What  should 
he  do  with  these  men  ?  A  fierce  rage  was  boiling 
in  his  heart  toward  them.  It  was  of  their  'Own 
seeking  —  the  meddlers  ! 

A  hand  was  laid  on  his  arm.  Professor  Pearl- 
stein  stood  beside  him.  They  were  in  the  Square 
near  the  pulpit,  on  the  front  of  which  were  letters 
of  gold.  His  hand  still  pressing  Dylar 's  arm,  the 
old  man  stretched  his  staff  out  and  drew  it  along 
the  words :   Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

Dylar  turned  away,  and  began  to  walk  to  and 
fro.  He  became  aware  of  his  people  all  about  him, 
and  of  Tacita,  her  child  in  her  arms,  crouched  on  a 
mat  at  his  feet.  She  gave  the  infant  to  a  woman 
near  her,  and  went  to  link  her  arm  in  his. 

"My  Love,"  she  said,  "the  torrent  is  turned. 
It  was  turned  before  the  door  was  open." 

He  stopped  to  look  at  the  signals.     He  had  not 


SAN  SALVADOB.  331 

looked  for  half  an  hour.  The  door  was  open ;  but 
the  road  had  first  been  closed. 

A  murmur  of  prayer  rose  trembling.  The  shock 
had  been  too  great.     The  strain  was  yet  too  great. 

And  then  again  the  signals  changed.  All  danger 
was  over.     The  strangers  were  gone  on  their  way. 

And  yet  the  people  waited,  only  whispering  their 
thanksgiving. 

Soon  came  the  signal  that  all  was  well,  and 
Elena  at  the  Pines  ready  to  enter. 

Then  the  bells  were  rung  and  they  sang  "Te 
Deum." 

But  no  one  went  indoors.  Not  till  Elena  had 
come,  till  all  was  explained,  could  they  think  of 
anything  else. 

The  messenger  from  the  castle  arrived  with  his 
story,  and  the  cards  of  their  visitors. 

"Don  Claudio  Loredan  !  "  exclaimed  Tacita, 
looking  at  her  husband. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

"Is  it  our  business  if  there  should  be  something 
concealed  ?"  the  German  asked  when  called  upon 
to  help  pry  the  masked  door  open.  "The  house  is 
not  ours." 

His  companions,  full  of  excitement,  broke  out 
upon  him.  Where  was  his  enterprise,  his  ro- 
mance, his  courage!  It  was  a  deserted  house. 
Perhaps  its  owners  knew  nothing  of  this  door. 

Their  excitement  was  contagious ;  and  he  went 
with  them  in  search  of  a  lever.  They  found  sap- 
lings that  bent  and  dry  sticks  that  broke.  But 
their  determination  increased  with  the  obstacles; 
and  at  last  the  right  touch  was  given,  the  door  was 
on  the  hinge  and  rolled  slowly  back,  disclosing  a 
dim  descent  between  walls,  with  a  light  shining 
across  from  below. 

All  three  recoiled  a  moment  at  their  own  success. 
"We  enter  at  our  risk,"  said  the  German.  "We 
have  no  right  here." 

The  other  two  went  down  cautiously,  and  after 
a  moment  called  to  him,  and  he  followed.  They 
had  pried  open  an  old  chest  from  which  the  lock 
dropped  almost  at  a  touch,  and  were  eagerly  pull- 
ing out  the  twigs  and  dry  leaves  with  which  it 
was  filled.     All  had  the  same   thought.      Surely 


SAN  SALVADOR.  333 

such  pains  would  be  taken  only  to  conceal  a  trea- 
sure. And  it  must  have  been  there  a  very  long 
thue. 

One  of  them  went  up  to  keep  watch  while  the 
other  two  worked,  changing  hands ;  for  the  chest 
was  large,  and  the  debris  could  be  removed  only  in 
sifting  handfuls. 

When  the  bottom  was  reached,  a  chorus  of  some- 
what bitter  laughter  rose;  for  there  was  nothing 
there  but  a  few  rough  stones.  It  had  evidently 
been  prepared  as  a  mockery,  probably  long  years 
before. 

They  prepared  to  go  on  their  way.  But  first 
they  went  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  outside  on 
the  narrow  ledge.  There  was  no  passage.  Only 
chasms,  precipices,  and  a  dashing  torrent  that 
sprinkled  them  as  it  fell,  met  their  eyes. 

They  went  up,  leaving  the  door  open,  mounted 
their  donkeys,  and  started  for  the  station. 

At  a  little  distance  down  through  the  pines  they 
met  a  man  and  woman  coming  up.  The  woman's 
face  was  covered  with  a  veil,  the  man  only  nodded 
in  passing  them. 

"Don  Claudio  Loredan  !"  said  Elena  to  herself 
when  they  had  passed.  "What  in  the  name  of 
heaven  brings  him  here!  " 

At  the  turn  of  the  path  the  three  travelers 
paused  to  look  back  at  the  old  house  with  its  back- 
ground of  mountains. 

"Farewell,  El  Dorado!"  said  the  Viscomte  de 
Courcelles. 


334  SAN  SALVADOR. 

"Farewell,  my  Promised  Land!"  said  Don 
Claiidio  Loredan. 

The  German  paused  a  moment  when  the  others 
went  on,  looking  back  dreamily.  ''Farewell,  lo!  " 
he  said. 

"It  is  strange,"  he  said,  rejoining  his  compan- 
ions, "that  sometimes  on  leaving  a  place  or  person 
one  scarcely  knows  the  name  of,  there  comes  a  feel- 
ing of  sadness,  almost  of  irreparable  loss." 

"I  suppose,"  said  the  Frenchman,  "that  the 
veiled  lady  we  have  just  met  is  one  of  the  exiles 
from  the  Olives.  I  wonder  if  they  expect  her  at 
home." 

She  was  expected.  She  was  looked  for  joyously 
and  longingly.  The  people  of  San  Salvador  re- 
mained watching  all  the  afternoon.  The  men  sent 
up  to  follow  lona  had  not  returned.  Doubtless  all 
three  were  waiting  to  accompany  Elena.  They 
watched  the  turn  of  the  mountain  path,  sure  that 
they  would  take  the  outer  one  next  the  town.  Spy- 
glasses were  ready  to  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  their 
coming. 

"They  are  coming!     They  are  coming  !" 

The  flutter  of  a  garment  was  visible  around  the 
rock. 

Tacita  looked  through  a  glass  that  rested  on  a 
man's  shoulder.  Her  other  hand  was  in  her  hus- 
band's arm. 

"It  is  Elena! "  she  said,  "She  comes  first,  and 
is  on  foot.  She  holds  her  handkerchief  hanging 
straight  down  at  her  side.     Now  she  stops  and  lifts 


SAN  SALVADOR.  335 

both  her  arms,  then  drops  them  again.  It  must 
mean  grief  for  the  peril  we  have  been  in.  The 
men  follow  with  the  donkeys.  They  seem  to  carry 
heavy  baggage,  or  something —  What  are  they 
doing?  There  is  no  one  else.  What  do  they 
carry?     O  Dylar,  where  is  lona?" 

She  gave  him  the  glass,  her  face  losing  its  light, 
and  growing  pale  and  frightened.  The  little  com- 
pany on  the  heights  was  now  plainly  seen. 

Dylar  took  the  glass,  looked  through  it,  and 
took  it  away  from  his  eyes.     His  face  w^as  livid. 

"My  God  I  "  he  said.      "  Where  is  lona  !  " 


V*  :';'.■".•  ..    ' 


V 


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